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It wasn’t pretty, but Teddy Delacruz from Wood Dale, Ill., won the men’s hot dog eating contest Friday at the Kosciusko County 4-H Community Fair.
Taking the top place in the women’s category was local Anita Hernandez.
Delacruz went up against six other men to either eat the most amount of hot dogs in 10 minutes or be the first to eat 10 hot dogs. His winning technique was to eat two hot dogs and then two hot dogs soaked in water until they were all gone.
“I got used to doing that. That’s how a lot of ones on Nathan’s do it,” he stated, adding that the buns go down easier when they’re soaked in water. “I’ve done a bunch of these. I’m just doing it for practice.”
Taking second place was Jason Mast, who won the contest last year and several years before. He couldn’t remember how many years he won.
Third place went to Dakota “Cody” McNess.
Others competing in the men’s division were Kosciusko County 4-H King Isaac Irwin, Yezan Al-Khateeb, Goble Junior Shepherd and Matthew Stormer.
While Hernandez won it in the women’s category by eating at least five hot dogs, Khloe Hinojosa took second and Kosciusko County 4-H Princess Jasmine Fuller took third.
In each category, first place gets $100, second place gets $75 and third gets $50.
To enter the contest, a person had to be at least 18 years of age. Entries were limited to the first 10 contestants in each category. Contestants could not touch their hot dogs until the starting signal. Only entire hot dogs eaten were counted, and that included the buns.
Director Kristen Messmore said the hot dog eating contest has been around for many years. The rules are similar to Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs national hot dog eating contest. No condiments could be used, and water was provided, but contestants could bring any beverage of their choice as long as it wasn’t alcohol.
