On Sunday, September 26 resident’s assistants Breanna Gratton and Serena Mediola hosted a hot wing eating competition, in the basement of Padua Hall. The social competition was put on to help hall residents connect, give them a chance at a cash prize and provide free chicken.

The competition was set to begin at 7:00 p.m. but only three participants had arrived. They decided to delay the competition till 7:30 p.m. to wait for more students to arrive.

“If no one else shows up, we will just start handing them out to anybody who wants free wings,” Serna Mediola said.

 Luckily, two more competitors arrived, and they were able to proceed as planned. There were a total of five people participating in the competition while many others came to spectate and cheer on their friends.

Breanna and Serena brought 15 boxes of sweet mango habanero wings and provided ranch dipping cups for contestants. They also had two plates for each contestant. One plate would be used for the actual eating while the other plate would be used to tally chicken bones.

The rules of the competition were as follows: each contestant would be provided with multiple boxes of chicken wings, filled with 10 wings per box. The contestants would have 10 minutes to eat as many wings as they could. For a wing to be counted as eaten, the bone must be visible and must not have a lot of excess meat leftover. Whoever eats most wings and whoever eats the second greatest number of wings would each be given a $15 gift card.

Once each of the contestants stood across from each other around the ping pong table their wings were placed on, the timer started, and the eating began. As the first few wings were eaten, the contestants became aware of the unique flavor of the wings.

“It’s a strange flavor. It’s not even spicy,” Taryn Sargent said.

The sweet habanero sauce allowed the contestants to focus on the speed of eating without the added distraction of a spicier sauce. Some of the contestants enjoyed the flavor, showing signs of enjoyment with each wing.

The first few minutes, it was difficult to see who was in the lead. Taunts were exchanged, boxes were emptied, and the ranch dipping sauce was mostly ignored.

Around the five minute mark, the leaders began to stand out. As the time passed, the contestants began to slow down. Each bite became more difficult than the last, causing some to tap out early.

But there were those who persevered till the end, polishing off multiple boxes of wings each. As the alarm sounded at the 10 minute mark, plates were then taken, and the chicken bones were tallied.

After the bones were counted, the winner was announced. Eddie Jakubauskas was declared the winner with 27 wings eaten and received his gift card prize.

“I didn’t want to get second and go through the pain for nothing. Learn to never give up!” Jakubauskas said.

Breanna and Serena both stated that their contest had been a success and said they were glad there were still wings leftover to share with other Padua Hall residents.