“Three, two, one.”
Game on.
Maybe Emporia’s Wheat State Pizza’s Gorilla Challenge doesn’t have the mystique other eating contests have, but nevertheless consuming a 24-inch pizza in less than an hour is a contest worth bragging about and collecting more than $100 in prize money.
Wheat State Pizza manager Dave McDonald has seen three people come forward to take the challenge named for the Pittsburg State mascot, where Wheat State Pizza began. But McDonald admits he has never seen anyone actually eat the whole pizza with a circumference of 75 inches.
McDonald concedes he can’t offer a strategy for getting the job done.
“I couldn’t imagine.” he says while preparing the 24-inch cheese pizza.
“Maybe stretching it (stomach) out, or starving yourself,” says McDonald.
“I’m starving,” Riley Day, Emporia State junior, tells roommate Tyler Fleming before attempting the challenge.
Fleming has come to offer support for Day as he takes the Gorilla Challenge.
Day is admittedly a featherweight. He is not whom you might expect to take the challenge.
“I’m pretty small, it might take a bit of mental strength,” Day says while the pizza is baking.
Day, a former pole vaulter from DeSoto, admits to working at a pizza joint and easily eating a 16-inch pie. The music major has some strategy however, “... get in as much as I can in 15 minutes.”
When the pie is put in front of Day, it becomes a formidable opponent. Day pulls out a stop watch and starts strategizing how long he needs for each slice.
Tyler Stevens, another of Day’s roommates and also a Wheat State employee, brings the pie to the table.
“Three, two, one, go,” says Fleming, who is optimistic and guesses his friend can get the job done in 45 minutes.
Day takes two slices and sandwiches them and starts eating. The first two slices appear to go down easily. Slice Three follows. Finishing the fourth slice means half the pizza will be gone, and Day knows he has to get through half the pizza before 30 minutes. He accomplishes part of his strategy.
By the fifth slice Day is starting to slow down considerably and his eyes are starting to glaze over. His youthful optimism starts to fade as he struggles with the thick crust of the massive pie.
At 32 minutes, Day reaches for a cleverly placed trash can. False alarm. The rules forbid “losing your cookies.”
“I want to go down like a winner,” Day says.
But at 35 minutes and 20 seconds, Day concedes defeat.
“I can’t look at this, it’s too much pizza,” he says.
Day excuses himself from the table and disappears down the hall to the restroom. Fleming grabs one of three pieces still on the table and helps himself.
Plans to go out with friends may be postponed.
“I want to sleep it off,” said a slightly nauseated Day. “That’s all I want to do, is sleep it off.”
stryker1_25 (anonymous) says...
Wheat State is awesome. I love a thin crust "barn yard."
August 24, 2009 at 3:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
crossriverjordan (anonymous) says...
I am glad Wheat State named their pizza after my alma mater's (and ESU's big arch rival) mascot, the Gorilla - the Pittsburg State University Gorillas.
August 24, 2009 at 4:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )