Summit High School Senior Wins Tito's Wing Eating Competition

A mild turnout for some hot wings is the best way to describe at on Monday afternoon. Just over half-a-dozen contestants showed up to lay the smack down on an order each of around two-dozen wings. A pair of winners were named at the end of the day. Red sauce-stained napkins and lips smacked with fire were the hallmarks of the event which lasted about 45 minutes.

Holding a hand to his irritated mouth after gulping large quanties of milk and water, Greg Kupchak, 20, from Roselle, was crowned the king in the Wings of Death competition.  "It was fun," he said through stinging lips. "I got some food to go, so I'm happy." Kupchak won his year supply of wings by polishing off .4 lbs of chicken pieces in a test of endurance. And these wings were hot (hot as in super-spicy). 

"The crowd was a little thin in Summit this year," says Mike Caldarella, co-owner of Tito's. "But we were proud of the contestants who showed up," he said. The contest lasted from about 4p.m. until 4:45p.m.

"We all had a lot of fun. Hindsight being 20/20, we'll probably go back to weekends for the next competition, as a lot of people were still at work when today's competition took place," said Caldarella. The previous competition in 2010 took place on a Saturday. "It was so packed [in the last competition], the windows were all fogged up," said Tito's server Michelle Sorianl.  

The winner is the Gnarly category—which counted how fast wings could be devoured—was senior Anthony Parenti. He ate 22 wings or about 1.8lbs in the Gnarly race. Parenti also took a chance and competed in the Death race, but could only muster 4 wings with the fiery sauce. "I'm note sure if I want to through up because I ate so many wings, or because I drank too much milk," he said. Milk was the general remedy to the stinging sensation contestants finished their plates with.

Parenti's startegy:

"Get as much into your mouth as you can and by the time you reach for your second [wing] get more in," he said looking woozy with a splotch of red sauce on his cheek. " Just don't through up."

William Anderson, another SHS senior, came in second place in the gnarly category. A third Hilltopper, Adam Roberts tied for fourth place. Not backing down to a challenge, Anderson also tried his hand at the Death match. "It was really hot," he said about the Wings of Death sauce, "but it was delicious."

Winners in the competition win a dozen wings a month for a year.