Broadview Heights novice shares burger-eating title

There is a new king among Cleveland competitive eaters.

At the hamburger-eating contest Saturday night at the National Hamburger Festival in Akron, novice competitive eater Kevin Kordalski, 19, of Broadview Heights, tied trencherman Pete "Big Plate" Maurizio from Pittsburgh at 13 5.5-ounce burgers in 10 minutes. Dave "Coondog" O'Karma of Cuyahoga Falls clinched third place with 12½ burgers.

"It still hasn't clicked that I did so well," said Kordalski. "I was hoping to land in the top three or four, at best. It was cool being up in front of the crowd. I thought it would be a lot tougher."

Kordalski was the least experienced of the 10 competitors but said he wasn't nervous.

"I wasn't thinking about the other guys," he said. "I told myself it was just me against the burgers. I tried to go to the water more often this time. I took a lot of little sips."

Kordalski is eyeing a pulled-pork eating contest Saturday, Aug. 2, in New Jersey and the Slavic Village Festival's pierogi-eating contest Saturday, Aug. 23. He needs a nickname now, something like Kevin "Carnivore" Kordalski.

"Alliteration is good," said Kordalski. "I was also thinking about 'Flash' and maybe 'The Lion.' A lion can eat 60 pounds of meat in a sitting."

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posted by Don "Moses" Lerman  # 6:31 AM