Gardiner, Maine — The Maine B.A.S.S. Nation held a memorial tournament April 29 at Pleasant Pond to honor a junior angler who died in a car accident last fall.
The first Thomas Behen Memorial Tournament drew 23 teams and raised more than $1,500 for the Maine Nation youth program, according to Sean Behen, the father of Thomas Behen and a Mainely Bass Club member. The money will be used to pay for travel expenses to send the Maine Nation’s youth teams to the Bassmaster high school and junior national championships.
Sean Behen noted most of the competitors in the memorial tournament were B.A.S.S. Nation anglers. Helping run the tournament were Maine Nation President Steve Wilson, Maine Nation Youth Director David Trask and Behen.
Thomas Behen was an accomplished junior angler who won the 11-14-year-old division of the Maine Nation Junior State Championship in 2012. He made the 2016 Bassmaster High School All-State Team for Maine, won the 2016 Maine Nation high school state championship and competed in the 2016 Bassmaster High School National Championship. Behen won Mainely Bass Junior Club Angler of the Year in 2012 and was the Mainely Bass Adult Club non-boater Angler of the Year in 2015 and 2016.
A second tournament honoring Behen will be hosted by Mainely Bass on July 7 at China Lake. The 2018 Thomas Behen Memorial Open will be a benefit tournament with proceeds donated to the Thomas Behen Scholarship, which was set up by the Behen family. The scholarship will be awarded yearly to assist future youth anglers who qualify for national championships and other worthy causes.
For more information about the Thomas Behen Memorial Open, download the Maine Nation 2018 Guide at www.mebass.com/nation/guide.html.
