On Friday, February 19, at 7:30 p.m., spectators gathered in East’s auditorium to watch the epic showdown between Erdong Chen (’11), seeking a three-peat championship, and Mr. Rick Friedman, winner of the 2006 Wing Bowl. Friedman was victorious, with a two-wing lead.

Although originally scheduled for February 5, Cherry Hill East’s 5^th Annual Wing Bowl competition drew a steady crowd. All proceeds, totaling $400 after all materials and promotions, benefited Haitian relief efforts. Buffalo Quarters provided the wings.

Cherry Hill East welcomed guest Bill “El Wingador” Simmons to co-emcee the event with East’s own Mr. Greg Gagliardi. “El Wingador” began the competition by demonstrating how he properly eats a wing and then donned his cape to preside over starting the rounds, as Gagliardi provided the commentary throughout the event.

Eighteen competitors sought to consume the most wings overall. In the first round, which lasted 6 minutes, Vinny Lombard (’10) ate 22 wings, Mr. Bill Semus ate 23, Max Kimball (’10) ate 26, Bryan Barkow (’10) and Cristine Cirillo (’10) both ate 27, Sam Stern (’10) ate 30, Brad Cutler (’11) ate 31, Dov Halevy (’10) ate 32 and Anna Metzger (’10) ate 34. However, at the end of the first round of contestants, Chen arrived late from a wrestling tournament to contend for the title.

Also competing was Ms. Ann Tirocke, an ardent vegetarian, who protested the event by wearing tape over her mouth and holding up a sign that said “Give Peas a Chance” and on the other side “Got Soy?”

The second round of contestants also lasted for 6 minutes. The Top 8, being Greg Frank (’13) in 8^th, Halevy in 7^th, Metzger 6^th, Onajeme 5^th, Rob Riches (’10) in 4^th, Rubin in 3^rd, Chen in 2^nd and Friedman in 1^st, moved on from there.

Amid the competition, Max Rubin (’10) publicly asked Anna Johnson (’10) to Senior Prom. How romantic.

The Top 4, being Onejeme, Rubin, Chen and Friedman moved on to the next round for a 4-minute session. At that point, Friedman had a 7-wing advantage over Chen.

From there, Chen and Friedman were tied with 122 wings in total. Both entered the tiebreaker with high hopes for becoming Wing Bowl Champion, however, it was Mr. Rick Friedman who ultimately defeated Chen by just two wings. The totals were Chen 143 and Friedman 145 wings.

Wing Bowl will certainly be interesting next year, as it will be Chen’s senior year at East. Will it be another Friedman v. Chen showdown? Who will be victorious?