Geoffrey Esper Beats Joey Chestnut to Set New Hot Wing Eating World Record

09/01/2019 10:40 pm EDT

There's a new Wing King in town — and his name isn't Joey Chestnut. For the first time in half a decade, a new wing eating champion has emerged in professional competitive eater Geoffrey Esper. As part of this weekend's annual National Buffalo Wing Festival, Esper came out on top during the professional eating competition, downing a whopping 281 wings within 12 minutes.

The United States Wing Eating Championship is a part of a Buffalo-based festival each year and prior to this year, Chestnut won the previous five contests. This year, the Nathan's Hot Dog world champ downed 276 wings while Miki Sudo rounded the top three with 221 wings.

Esper's 281-wing best is another record on the rising eating star's ever-growing mantle, which includes eating records in pork roll sandwiches (50), 10" pizzas (83 slices), Indian tacos (30.5), bratwursts (36), pretzels (26), and Hooters Chicken Wings (281). Prior to Sunday's contest, Esper was the #2 ranked competitive eater in the world.

Chestnut, the top-ranked competitive eater, previously held the chicken wing record, downing 7.61 pounds of wings in the event in 2012. Other competitive eating records Chestnut holds includes hot dogs (74), hard-boiled eggs (141), pork ribs (13.76lb.), Taco Bell tacos (53), grilled cheese sandwiches (47), gyoza (384), jalapeno poppers (118), pierogi (165), and canteen sandwiches (18.5), amongst dozens of others.

"As the birthplace of the chicken wing, Buffalo pushes the celebration of the wing to greater heights every year via the National Buffalo Wing Festival," Buffalo mayor Byron W. Brown said in a statement ahead of the festival. "Now in its 18th year, the Wingfest has become a must-attend event for local residents and wing fans from across the U.S., North America and the world. I'm looking forward to another fantastic wing-filled weekend on August 31st and
September 1st."

How many hot wings do you think you could eat in 12 minutes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things food!

Photo courtesy of John Normile / Getty Images.

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