TOWAMENCIN – Starting a new tradition at North Penn, the SGA held its first Wing Bowl Monday night, November 26. Attracting football fans and hungry competitors, the wing bowl started at 7pm and was complete with 900 donated wings, snack and drinks for sale, eight competitors, an eager audience, and the Eagles game. The senior cafeteria was transformed into a pub atmosphere as the unmistakable aroma of fried chicken wings and spicy sauces wafting through the room, and despite the Eagles current string of losses, the audience could not contain their cheers as they supported the competitors.
When the wing sauce settled, with 67 wings consumed, it was David Franco who took the crown and a $50 gift certifictate to PJ Whelihan’s.
Franco shared his “training” secrets, and he conveyed: “I only ate a cheese stick today, and I ate a lot this whole weekend, and I drank a lot of water before this because that’s what you are supposed to do to stretch your stomach.” However, after victory he admitted, “I’m feeling awful, but I’d do it again.”
By 7:30 the competitors were ready to feast, and Mrs. Maria Pfeiffer, co-advisor of the SGA, read through the list: Anthony Fuller, Mr. Matthew Scott, Mr. Kyle Berger, Tyler Maroney, David Franco, Jack Morris, Mr. Dan Malarkey, and Eddie Posavec. All contestants were seated with bowls of wings in front of them in preparation for the first round.
The competition consisted of 3 rounds – each round with the same goal: eat as many wings as possible.
The first round was five minutes long, and the contestants shoveled down wings in order to make it in the top four who would move on to the next round. Helpers from the SGA replenished the demolished bowls and all bones were thrown into black buckets that were situated in front of each competitor. The number of bones in the bucket would determine how many wings were officially eaten.
Music was playing, and chants from the crowd cheered on contestants. The competitors seemed to have a system down as they shoveled wings into their mouths. Their faces were stained with sauce as there was no time to waste on napkins. Even sips of water to balance out the spice were unacceptable for time was precious, and the participants were determined to win.
After the first round four challengers remained: Eddie Posavec and David Franco with the highest number having eaten 30 wings each, Anthony Fuller with a total of 25 wings, and Tyler Maroney finishing with 23.
There was only a short break before the second round which was also five minutes long. This round brought the Wing Bowl to its finalists: Possavec and Franco tied with 53 total wings each. Unfortunately for the two, they both finished the third round with a tie at nine wings in two minutes. The reoccurring theme of ties called for a sudden death match: eat the most possible wings in thirty seconds. Franco came out on top.
The night proved a success in the eyes of SGA. Since mostly everything was donated this fundraiser was an excellence profit for the club.
“I think it turned out really well,” said SGA president Katie Marino. “I was hoping that more people would come, but for the amount of people that were here everyone was really into it and the competitors did a good job, too. By the end of the night people got really pumped up, and it was a fun night. The first time we do an event it is always shaky, and we are never sure how things will turn out, so our goal next year is to have a lot more people. We will definitely do it again.”