In a field of 16 Binghamton University students posing as competitive eaters at the Dickinson Town Council’s wing-eating contest on Friday, Jerry Yang, a junior majoring in accounting, came out on top, finishing 60 wings over the course of four painstaking rounds.
Yang pulled ahead early, leading the field after the first round by eating 29 wings in six minutes.
“That was agonizing for me,” said Jeffrey Mena, the emcee of the competition and a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, after the first round. “I was hot just standing next to them. I can’t imagine what they were going through. It was exciting. It was exhilarating.”
After the first round, Vincent Riemma, the eventual runner-up and a freshman majoring in biochemistry, was at a loss for words.
“Holy shit,” he said.
Four contestants advanced to the second round, as dozens of onlookers cheered and clapped.
“I’m only here to see someone puke,” said Jeremy Bernstein, an undeclared freshman.
The next two rounds were a mad dash to see who could strip the most meat from the bone. In the end, however, it came down to just Yang and Riemma.
Yang used the snap and suck technique, snapping the wing in half and sticking the entire bone in his mouth, using his teeth to pull off all the meat at once, while Riemma took a different approach, biting around the wings in a more traditional method.
Yang had already eaten 54 wings going into the fourth and final round. Riemma was close behind with 48.
The finalists struggled with each and every wing in the final round, clenching their teeth to keep any of it from coming back up. But in the end, Yang came out on top.
“I’m really full,” Yang said after his victory. “I usually get food after eating contests, but that was a lot.”
Riemma was gracious in defeat, shaking hands with Yang after the final round was over.
“I pretty much knew the entire time that Jerry Yang was going to win,” he said. “I weigh 155 pounds. He’s got 100 pounds on me!”
Still, Riemma remained confident that his future is bright.
“I got it next year,” he said.