Team O’Reilly Auto Parts (Nelson/Villa) catches 37 scorable bass totaling 64 pounds, 15 ounces to win Elimination Round Match 2, top two teams move on to Knockout Round
PORT HURON, Mich. (Aug. 25, 2025) – Four new teams set out on the southern section of the St. Clair River early Monday morning for Elimination Match 2 of the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® at Port Huron on Michigan’s Thumbcoast. The second day of the first of four events in the 2025 Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops season kept fans on edge as teams moved in and out of the top spot throughout the day. But it was Team O’Reilly Auto Parts – made up of Ron Nelson and Martin Villa – that stormed from behind in Period 3 to secure the win and finish the day atop the leaderboard.
Nelson and Villa delivered a dominant final period, stacking up 31 pounds of bass in the last two hours of competition to rocket from third place into the top spot on SCORETRACKER®. The duo combined for 37 scorable bass weighing 64 pounds, 15 ounces, to advance to the Knockout Round thanks to a balanced mix of largemouth and smallmouth.
Joining them in the Knockout Round are Team B&W Trailer Hitches, the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame duo of Mark Davis and Gary Klein, who pieced together a steady day, boating 29 scorable bass weighing a total of 51-3. Their second-place finish was anchored by Davis’ 22 scorable bass for 36 pounds, 8 ounces – the highest fish and weight count of the event thus far. Davis and Klein found their rhythm around a creek mouth feeding into the main river and added key fish beneath a nearby bridge, a one-two punch that helped them lock down the second advancing position.
That meant heartbreak for Team Ferguson’s Brent Ehrler and Justin Lucas, who fell just one scorable bass short of advancing. Ehrler’s 5-pound Berkley Big Bass of the day – caught on a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm along an industrial stretch of seawall – highlighted their run, but despite several quality smallmouth, the duo was unable to hold their position in the final minutes of competition.
Team Smoky Mountain, featuring Josh Bertrand and Dean Rojas, showed promise early with Rojas’ signature frog and Bertrand flipping cane edges, but their bite fizzled out in the second half of the day. They were eliminated alongside Team Ferguson at the close of Match 2.
Link to HD Video Clip of Challenge Cup Elimination Round Match 2 Highlights
Link to Morning Photo Gallery: A fresh fleet of teams rise to the challenge on the St. Clair River
Link to Afternoon Photo Gallery: Evenly matched lineup races for the cut line during Challenge Cup Elimination Match 2
The Team O’Reilly Auto Parts duo caught most of their fish along current eddies, seawalls and pilings up and down the St. Clair River, with Nelson boating 17 scorable bass on the day, weighing 30-4, while Villa added 20 bass for 34-11.
“It wasn’t just one winning bait for us today, really it was two,” Villa explained. “I’m a drop-shot fisherman, and every fish I caught came on a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm. Ron’s a Ned-rig guy, and that Z-Man Finesse TRD in green pumpkin really got the key bites along seawalls. There were a couple times I thought we were going to get left behind, but that one-two punch kept us in the hunt.”
Nelson said fishing to their strengths was the key.
“This is what Michigan’s all about – clear water and current – and we had a blast,” he said. “I’m not a drop-shot guy, but I did catch a few on it today. My go-to today was the Ned rig. Simple, but effective, and we survived to fish another day.
The turning point came late in the day when they revisited a stretch near ferry docks.
“It’s the first time either of us has fished the St. Clair River, so it was a little edgy at first. Funny enough, the first time we stopped at our winning spot we didn’t catch a bass – just a few walleye. But we thought it looked too good, so we came back, and that decision made all the difference,” Nelson said.
“Anybody who’s fished around ferry boats knows good things can happen there, and that’s the way it went down for us today,” Villa said. “We’re blessed to have survived this round. Now we’ll see where they put us in the Knockout Round, but you can bet we’ll be looking for another ferry.”
Nelson said teamwork is obviously key in team events like the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup, but the intensity of SCORETRACKER® and the every-fish-counts format makes it that much more crucial – and exciting.
“MLF has got it down with this Team Series – it’s nothing but sheer adrenaline from start to finish,” he said. “It’s hard going in blind without practice, but we’re a great team and the excitement keeps us on our toes. You never know what you’re going to pull out of this water – could be a big brown fish, could be a big green fish – and that makes it so much fun.”
Villa agreed.
“Anytime you can get your hands on some of those big smallmouth, that’s fun,” he said. “And we definitely had fun today.”
The top two teams from Elimination Round Match 2 at the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® that now advance to the Knockout Round are:
1st: Team O’Reilly Auto Parts, 37 bass, 64-15
Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 17 bass, 30-4
Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 20 bass, 34-11
2nd: Team B&W Trailer Hitches, 29 bass, 51-3
Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 22 bass, 36-7
Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, seven bass, 14-12
Eliminated from competition are:
3rd: Team Ferguson, 24 bass, 50-8
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 13 bass, 29-5
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 11 bass, 21-3
4th: Team Smokey Mountain, 23 bass, 38-10
Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 11 bass, 18-11
Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., 12 bass, 19-15
Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 113 bass weighing 205 pounds, 4 ounces caught by the four teams in Elimination Round Match 2 on the southern half of the St. Clair River. Team Ferguson pro Brent Ehrler caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a smallmouth weighing 5 pounds even.
The four teams that will compete Tuesday in Elimination Round Match 3 at the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® are:
Team Fishing Clash:
Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C.
Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo.
Team Knighten:
Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn.
Colby Miller, Elmer, La.
Team Kubota:
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif.
Team YETI:
Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® is hosted by Discover the Blue Michigan’s Thumbcoast and takes place over six days in Port Huron, Michigan . The competition water for each day is top-secret and is only revealed to the anglers when they arrive at the boat ramp each morning. Anglers are driven directly to the day’s competition area launch ramp by their officials. Competition begins on the water at 8:45 a.m.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live every day of competition from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps, RFD-TV Now, Game & Fish TV and Rumble. The final period of every day of competition of the 2025 Fishing Clash Team Series is broadcast live on RFD-TV, from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
The Challenge Cup features 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they enter the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches will feature four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams compete each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Friday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine which team will win the 2025 B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY®.
The MLF Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops will feature four Cup events in 2025 – the Challenge, Heritage, Patriot, and Summit Cups – with 12 two-man teams of Bass Pro Tour anglers competing for a share of $560,000 in prize money. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2025 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2025.
Television coverage of the MLF Fishing Clash Team Series B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by 5-hour ENERGY® will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon starting January 3, 2026. The complete television schedule for the Fishing Clash Team Series on Outdoor Channel will be posted at MajorLeagueFishing.com.