Wabash Valley College Bass Coach, Todd Gill, is excited to announce the signing of Colten Starnes for the 2025–2026 collegiate bass season. Starnes signed on Saturday, November 2^nd at the Salem High School Bass Bingo Night in Salem, Illinois.

Colten is the son of Bill and Brandi Starnes of Salem, Illinois. He is a senior at Salem Community High School and fishes on the ICASSTT Series, the IHSA Series, and the Major League Fishing High School Series. He has also competed as a co-angler on the MLF Phoenix BFL Illini Series. He has seven top ten finishes and two top five finishes on the ICASSTT series. He has two ICASSTT mini wins and has qualified for the ICASSTT Clash twice. He finished 8^th at Table Rock Lake in an Abu Garcia Major League Fishing High School tournament and finished 4^th at the IHSA Sectionals at Newton. Colten has been fishing competitively for three years. His goals for fishing in college include having some quality finishes and having fun. Colten's planned major is electrical distribution systems. His favorite lake to fish on is Kinkaid Lake. Outside of fishing, Starnes enjoys hanging out with his girlfriend and golfing. Colten would like to thank his parents for their support. He would like to thank all his team sponsors for making it possible to travel and fish everywhere. He would like to thank Coach Mike Russell for his guidance and providing all the fishing opportunities during his high school career. He would also like to thank Pat Lobek and Hunter Russell for being his boat captains and all the other boat captains on the Salem Bass Fishing Team for their support. Starnes is excited about his opportunity to be a part of the Wabash Valley College Bass Team.

Those interested in learning more about the Wabash Valley College Bass Team can visit www.wvcwarriorathletics.com, click on Club Teams and select Bass Fishing. High school juniors and seniors that have an interest in a campus visit can fill out the recruiting questionnaire and Coach Gill will contact them to discuss the team and schedule a campus visit. You can also keep up with WVC Bass Team news by following them on Facebook @WVC Bass Team and on Instagram @wvcbassteam.