By Zanub Saeed
The first Hooters Major League Eating Wing-Eating World Champion was announced on Thursday, when Joey Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., ate 144 wings in 10 minutes.
The competition took place at the first Hooters restaurant in Clearwater, Fla., on July 16, and Chestnut, as the winner, took home $7,500 in cash prizes, announced a press release issued by Hooters of America, LLC on Friday.
Adrian "The Rabbit" Morgan from Baton Rouge, La, won second place by eating 140 chicken wings on Friday, and little Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas from Alexandria, Va., took third place when she finished 131 wings in the allotted time, said the press release.
The contest took place this week in part of Sunday's celebration of National Chicken Wing Day, and Hooters restaurants across the country will have a "buy 10 wings, get 10 wings" special for those dining in at the stores in the United States this weekend, noted the press release.
Ten cities took part in the Major League Eating Wing-Eating World Championship this year, which began in April, and Chestnut was said to beat out 11 other regional winners who headed to the championship in Florida this week.
Other chicken-wing lovers who participated in the contest included Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, Chicago, Ill.; Bob "Notorious B.O.B." Shoudt, Royersford, Pa.; "Lovely" Juliet Lee, Germantown, Md.; Erik "The Red" Denmark, Seattle, Wash.; Tim "Gravy" Brown, Chicago, Ill.; "Nasty" Nate Biller, Austin, Texas; Crazy Legs Conti, New York, NY; and Lewis Richards, London, England, listed the press release.
"Chicken wing eating is among the most demanding and elegant disciplines in the world of sport. Sonya Thomas, with her lithe frame, dexterity and grace, was born for it and has repeatedly outmaneuvered Chestnut and other top competitors who are three times her size," George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating, stated for the press release. "However, Joey is hot off his July 4th win and looking to take down 'The Black Widow.'"
