I have never been to a professional eating contest. I have seen Kobayashi on TV (Where’s Kayzer Souse), but didn’t realize how intense the competition is.

Tonight I got my first taste of competitive eating when I headed out to Brewske’s to check out Wing bowl 3. This was the first of 4 qualifying rounds, to see how many buffalo wings a person can eat in 5 minutes.

Brewske’s was jammed pack with wing bowl wannabes. There were 4 rounds of 8 eaters. You had to eat all the meat off the bones, but not the bones. Well, you could eat the bones, but it may slow you down, or actually kill you. By dying you forfeit your chance to win the $5000 1st place price when the finals take place on February 3rd.

Now that you know the rules let me tell you about the eaters. I sat down with Steven Williams and Nathan Hsie, who believed that they have what it takes to reach the finals. Now Steven and Nathan have that look of a couple guys that like to eat. They are not fat by any stretch, but they aren’t bags of bones either.

Steven described himself as a big guy, who loves to eat, while Nathan just said he expects to eat a lot. The best thing about these guys, who I thought were brothers, is the support they give each other. They each want to reach the finals, but would be just as happy if the other made it.

Steven took part on round one. He ate like a champ, but was done in by one guy that you just wouldn’t expect to be able to eat so many wings. His name is Tom, who is tall and thin. No matter, Tom put down a whopping 34 wings. Amazing!

Afterwards, I asked Tom his secret. I was expecting a full blown, scientific answer. Nope, all he said was chew and swallow. He made it look easy. Steven wasn’t too upset because he knows he has a few more chances before the finals.

Nathan was up next, in round two. Nathan is one of those guys who is always smiling. He remained mum on his chances, but he turned out to be an eating machine. Nathan gobbled down 23 wings. No, it was not the 34 that Tom chowed down, but still very impressive. Steven was the first to congratulate his friend, no doubt knowing that he’ll be joining him soon.

I know what you’re thinking? Wing eating is no place for a woman. You couldn’t be farther from the truth. Kimberly is a mother of two, who is also putting herself through college. She explained that she could use the $5000, so she came to Brewske’s to give Wing Bowl 3 a shot. She competed against Nathan in round two, and after matching his wing output at 23, she finds herself in the finals.

I asked her, her secret. She told me she didn’t eat lunch or dinner and had 2 shots of vodka. Plus she was all amped up to eat. She also took part in the Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin’ challenge. In that one, a person has to eat 12 blazing hot wings in less than 6 minutes with no water or napkin. Once she was able to climb that wing mountain, she knew she was ready for the wing bowl. She surprised the whole bar, while also picking up quite a few admirers.

Round 3 included 2010 Wing Bowl champion Travis Fowler. Fowler is an easy going guy, who can put down a lot of wings. Back in ’10, Fowler ate a whopping 72 Wings.

The finals of the Wing Bowl consist of 3 rounds: 10 minutes, 5, than 2.

Fowler was a man against boys and girls in round 3. Surprisingly, Fowler sits while he eats, but that didn’t stop him from eating a night best, 37 wings. That’s 37 wings in 5 minutes people. Damn!

One of the people he beat out was Shallon. Shallon wanted to give wing eating a try, and she didn’t do half bad. She only finished 14 wings, but now knows whet she need to work on for next weeks challenge.

The other round 3 contestant headed to the finals is Scott Hayes. Hayes, as you can tell is a business man. He told me that he was headed home from work, heard the radio spot, and decided to give eating wings a shot. In his first ever wing eating contest, Scott downed 29 wings.

Round 4 saw the reigning wing champion, Paul Trovato, take his seat. Trovato, who gnawed 116 wings to win the 2011 Wing Bowl, said the secret is to keep eating, and drink a lot of water. He also prepares by eating a lot of greasy food.

Well, whatever he does, he should keep doing it as he put down 36 wings, but looked to be in cruise control. I don’t know who else will make it to the finals, but they have their work cut out to dethrone the past 2 champions.

A few other things of note.

I was really pulling for Jason, who is a friend on Tom’s. Jason patiently waited for his name to be called all evening. He always has a beer to loosen up, and looked up to the challenge. However, his 22 wings were impressive, but he was beaten out by Paul and one other guy. As I was headed out Jason walked by me and said, “NEXT WEEK”. I think we’ll see him in the finals.

I loved that there was a guy dressed in a chicken suit. He cheered the on all the competitors, plus he got to motorboat the waitress, twice. Good times.

More competition for Wing Bowl 3 takes place next Wednesday at the Tenaya Lodge. The start time is 6pm. If you missed the first one tonight, or didn’t so as well as you expected, you still have a few more chances to reach the finals. Don’t quit now…if nothing else it’s free wings!

Oh yeah, if you punch up vegassportsgab on facebook, I’ll put all my pictures. I have some videos, and I’ll try to convert them. This will all be done on Thursday