OXFORD, Ala. – Team O’Reilly Auto Parts – Alabama pro Dustin Connell and Tennessee’s Jacob Wheeler – capped off an unforgettable week on the Alabama pros home waters with a dominant performance Monday, cruising to a win at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches on Logan Martin Lake.

The powerhouse duo combined for 70 pounds, 10 ounces on 46 scorable bass – the first 70-pound day recorded in this week’s event – to secure a comfortable victory in the Championship Round of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops.

Link to Hi-Res Photo of Patriot Cup Winners Team O’Reilly Auto Parts (Connell/Wheeler)
Link to HD Video Clip of Patriot Cup Championship Round Highlights
Link to Morning Photo Gallery: Team O’Reilly Auto Parts takes early lead at Patriot Cup Championship Round
Link to Afternoon Photo Gallery: Logan Martin Lake delivers for Patriot Cup Championship Round

For Connell, the win carried special meaning – his first Team Series title, earned on his home waters of the Coosa River. For Wheeler, it marked his second straight Team Series championship win following last month’s Heritage Cup victory with Mark Daniels Jr. in Wisconsin.

“I love these Team Series, man,” Connell said. “I really enjoy getting in the boat with my buddy. We fish together a lot – anytime we have free time. For us to get together and win one of these, this means a lot. I’m not going to lie.”

Connell admitted that local knowledge didn’t necessarily make things easy.

“It didn’t really happen the way I expected,” he said. “It was cloudy and rainy, and I thought that might hurt us. But Jacob called the shot. He said, ‘Hey, let’s go try this little pocket here,’ and I said, ‘Heck yeah, this feels good.’ That’s where it all came together.”

Both pros relied on forward-facing sonar and finesse presentations, catching the majority of their bass on the Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow paired with VMC Redline Series Tungsten Swimbait Jigheads.

“Man, here on Lake Logan Martin, it was about a bait that has won a lot of money between the two of us,” Wheeler said. “The conditions were perfect for that Mooch Minnow bite – cloudy with just enough wind to keep the fish up. We fished the main lake, ran upriver and just bebopped around until we found the right zone.”

“We threw the albino shad and gizzard shad colors, mostly on 3/8-ounce jigheads, but we mixed in some ¼-ounce for fish that were higher in the water column,” added Connell. “You need several different weights for this technique because the fish are constantly moving up and down – that’s why you’ll see us changing rods all the time.”

“We caught about 60 bass today counting the non-scorables,” Wheeler agreed. “It was insane. Once we settled into that area and the groups started to show up, it was on.”

But the day wasn’t without drama. Midway through the second period, the duo briefly lost momentum after a fish-landing violation erased a scorable bass from their total. But instead of rattling them, the penalty lit a fire.

“Oh, man. That’s about as mad as I get,” Wheeler said with a laugh. “Right after that, we just put the hammer down. We started stacking them up, and from there, it never slowed down.”

For both anglers, the win reflected more than just a productive pattern – it was a celebration of friendship, teamwork and execution.

“Cool tournament,” Connell said. “Glad to win it with my boy. We got it done.”

Wheeler summed it up simply.

“It was an insane week here in Alabama,” he said in his post-game interview. “DC got to fish two lakes he’d never been on before, and we got to finish it right here on his home river. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Team Knighten Industries – Alton Jones Jr. and Jake Lawrence – gave Team O’Reilly Auto Parts an early scare, ending the first period just one pound behind the leaders. True to form, the forward-facing sonar specialists relied on precision and patience, stacking up 45-13 by day’s end to finish the day in second.

Team Ferguson’s Takahiro Omori and Dean Rojas finished in third place after making key adjustments late in the day. The veteran duo abandoned the main river in favor of a flat pocket loaded with baitfish and used a vibrating jig and shallow-running squarebill crankbait to climb from fourth to third with 32-4.

Rounding out the top four, Team Fishing Clash’s Bradley Roy and Greg Vinson leaned heavily on forward-facing sonar and jighead minnows in their first-ever Championship Round appearance. Vinson mixed in a spoon to trigger a few key bites, but their 28-4 total fell short, and they ended the day in fourth place.

The final four teams at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches finished:

1st: Team O’Reilly Auto Parts: 46 bass, 70-10
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 28 bass, 41-8
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 18 bass, 29-2

2nd: Team Knighten: 33 bass, 45-13
Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., 17 bass, 22-8
Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 16 bass, 23-5

3rd: Team Ferguson: 17 bass, 32-4
Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 10 bass, 21-2
Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., seven bass, 11-2

4th: Team Fishing Clash: 19 bass, 28-4
Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 13 bass, 18-9
Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., six bass, 9-11

Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 115 bass weighing 176 pounds, 15 ounces caught by the four teams competing in the Championship Round Monday on Logan Martin Lake. Team Ferguson pro Takahiro Omori caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a 4-pound, 2-ounce largemouth bass.

The Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches, the third of four Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops events of the 2025 season, was hosted by the City of Oxford and took place over six days in Oxford, Alabama. The competition water for each day was top secret and only revealed to the anglers when they arrived at the boat ramp each morning.

The Patriot Cup featured 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they entered the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches featured 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 competed each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Monday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams competed in a one-day shootout to determine which team was the winner of the 2025 Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches.

The MLF Fishing Clash Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops features 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. The fourth and final event for Team Series anglers will be the Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup, scheduled for Nov. 16-21, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Television coverage of the MLF Fishing Clash Team Series Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon starting March 28, 2026. The complete television schedule for the Fishing Clash Team Series on Outdoor Channel will be posted at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Fishing Clash Team Series include: 7Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, E3 Sport Apparel, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, NITRO Boats, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Smokey Mountain Caffeinated Pouches, Star brite, Toyota, YETI and Zenni.

For complete details and updated information on the MLF Fishing Clash Team Series, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.