Date of Event: 04/18/2026
Location: Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa, Mount Ida, Arkansas
Number of Attendees: 50
Presenter/Notable Guest(s): Section Chair, Nick Garner
District 17 Director, Viji Kuruvilla
Event Summary: The AWS Central Arkansas Section recently held its 2026 Thomas B. Schueck / nexAir Memorial Bass Tournament. The tournament, presented by Lexicon, nexAir, and Nucor, was held on April 18 at Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa in Mount Ida, Arkansas and raised $42,600 to support the section’s AWS Foundation scholarship funds. These scholarship funds support Arkansas students attending Arkansas welding training programs.
The 1st Place tournament finisher and Big Bass winner was Braxton Shifflett. Braxton weighed in a total of 20.2 lbs., and his big bass weighed 6.02 lbs. Finishing in 2nd Place was Alex Allen with 17.96 total lbs. The Top Student Fisherman of the day was JC Freeman with a total weight of 9.34 lbs.
A dinner and section meeting was held the night before with approximately 50 in attendance. Dinner sponsors were CGW Abrasives, Knot Consulting, and Norton. During the event, Section Chair Nick Garner recognized tournament sponsors, and District 17 Director Viji Kuruvilla made remarks about the section’s almost decades-long fundraising effort to support section scholarships through the AWS Foundation. Viji gave special recognition to Dossie Layton for her work organizing the dinner and thanked Chris Layton for his work as Tournament Director.
