Competitive eater wins world title at Colusa Casino Resort

A Florida man vaulted into competitive eating folklore Saturday after beating nine others in the first-ever World Tri-Tip Eating Challenge.

The competitive eating event at Colusa Casino Resort was part of the two-day charity extravaganza for Colusa youth sports programs that also featured a battle of the bands and barbecue cooking contest.

Locals also took part in the competition, but weren’t able to put down what the likes of Hall “Hoover” Hunt, Jason “The Erbivore” Erb and Big Brian Subich managed in just 12 minutes.

“I love to eat and I love to compete,” said Hunt, who won the competition after eating nearly five pounds of tri-tip. “God gave me the talent, and I’m going to use it.”

Emcee Ryan Nerz, of the International Federation of Competitive Eating, said competitive eating has received a great deal of recognition in the past few years.

“We have a natural fascination about eating,” Nerz said. “We especially like to see men eat.”

Nerz said competitive eaters train extensively for the competitions, which he said should be allowed in the Olympics.

“Why not?” he said. “Americans make a sport out of anything. They added ballroom dancing last year. They even have curling.”

Other top-ranked competitors Sunday included Erik “The Red” Denmark – who came in second by wolfing down 4 pounds, 11 ounces of tri-tip – Sacramento hopeful Ryan “Big Red” McKillop and John Harman of Marysville. Harman beat out Travis Amundson of Colusa in a preliminary round  Saturday.

Hunt will next compete in the World Hot Dog Challenge, which will be televised on ESPN from Long Island, N.Y. on Saturday.

Contact Susan Meeker at 458-2121 or smeeker@tcnpress.com.