The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
South eats up wing competition
Rebels capture championship in annual wing-eating contest in record time
Apparently, the key to winning a chicken wing-eating contest is to be missing a front tooth.
Propelled by an interesting approach by toothless wonder Nathan Tekavec, the Willoughby South tandem of Tekavec and Joe Lang took first place in the annual News-Herald Senior Bowl’s wing eating contest at Hooley House in Mentor.
Tekavec and Lang scarfed down 30 jumbo-sized wings in 2 minutes and 32 seconds. Two other teams — Wickliffe and Brush — also finished their allotted plate full of wings, but no one did it faster than the South duo.
All because of one missed tooth.
“I am missing a tooth,” Tekavec said with a grin, revealing a gap in the front of his smile. “I killed all the paddles in 10 seconds. I could put the bone in the gap.
“There were two minutes left, and we only had 15 wings left.”
There were 13 two-man teams taking part in the contest, which was held as a kickoff to the annual News-Herald Senior Bowl, which is presented by Hooley House.
Dozens of players jammed Hooley House to capacity for the annual chicken wing extravaganza.
Practice for the annual N-H Senior Bowl starts June 10, and runs through June 14. The game is at 7 p.m. on June 15 at Mayfield’s Wildcat Park.
“This is new to me,” Lang said with a surprised look on his face after he and Tekavec made it look easy burying 30 wings in the fastest time in N-H contest history.
The boys had 22 seconds left when they finished their last wing, so they went back and nibbled off any remaining meat on the bones to make sure their bones were legal.
“I’ve never done an eating competition before tonight,” said Lang, admitting he had once eaten 75 wings in a sitting.
Tekavec, on the other hand, came in prepared.
“The only thing I ate today was a couple of eggs,” he said. “I was hungry. I’m still a little hungry.”
Also eating all 30 of their wings were Brush’s tandem of Bradford Easton and Justin Grigsby, as well as Wickliffe’s duo of Jared Szinte and Dom Liuzzo.
Other competitors included:
• Lake Catholic’s Juan Tousel and Ryan Nocero (28 wings).
• Mentor’s Ryan Jacoby and Brady Benz (28 wings)
• Madison’s Jacob Glass and Max Starke (28 wings)
• Kirtland’s Mike Alfieri and Jack Bailey (27 wings)
• Chardon’s Cam Niehus and Louie Monaco (26 wings)
• Riverside’s Anthony Piriola and Nick Kalb (25 wings)
• North’s Johnny Dotson and Parker Jensen (25 wings)
• Mayfield’s Dom DiPippo and Speedy Veloz (24 wings)
• VASJ’s Tre Bell and Cameron Williams (20 wings)
• South B’s Tyler Henderson and Jared Newsome (20 wings)
Uniforms/paperwork
Most of this year’s participants were on hand to try on jerseys and sign up for uniform numbers.
Players who were not able to be there on June 4 are urged to contact JKampf@ News-Herald.com as soon as possible to order jersey sizes and numbers.
Also, players need to turn in their player profile sheet, consent form and physical as soon as possible. Email JKampf@NewsHerald.com for more information.
Practice coming
Practices for the Senior Bowl will begin Sunday, June 10. Coach Scott O’Donnell’s Blue team will practice from 5 to 7 p.m. throughout the week, while Coach Paul Guhde’s White team will practice from 7 to 9 p.m.
Players are reminded that they need to bring helmet, pads and practice clothes each day. The News-Herald will provide the game-day jerseys.
For any further information on the game, email JKampf@News-Herald.com
Tickets
Tickets for the N-H Senior Bowl are on sale at both the News-Herald office and at Hooley House. Tickets are $5 in advance. At the gate on game day, they are $7.