WIP's Wing Bowl 26: Molly Schuyler shatters previous record

Philly.com
Updated
Follow our live blog for updates from WIP's Wing Bowl at the Wells Fargo Center.

Meet the new Wing Bowl champion, same as the old Wing Bowl champion.

Molly Schuyler entered the Wells Fargo Center Friday morning as the odds-on favorite to win Wing Bowl 26, and she didn’t disappoint, downing a record 501 wings on the way to her third Wing Bowl championship.

“This right here is our greatest champion of all time,” said WIP Morning Show host Angelo Cataldi as Schuyler cried following her record-breaking win.

“It’s been a long year and it’s only February,” Schuyler responded.

Schuyler shattered the previous record of 444 wings, set in 2015 by Patrick Bertoletti, who was not among this year’s competitors. For her troubles, the 127-pound competitive eater heads home with $5,000 in cash, a 2018 Hyundai Sonata and a custom Wing Bowl championship medal and ring.

Here are the final scores for the top five Wing Bowl contestants:

501 – Molly Schuyler
396 – Dave Tiger “Wings & Things” Brunelli
388- Bob “Notorious B.O.B.” Shoudt
262 – Dan “Killer Kennedy” Kennedy
250 – Monty “Moe Train” Wiradilaga

The competition began around 8 a.m., when Wing Bowl commissioner and WIP afternoon co-host Jon Ritchie crushed an egg on his head. New to this year’s Wing Bowl was a first responders division, won by Philadelphia fireman Bill “Boub Hammer” Boub.

Wrestling legend Ric Flair made his second-straight Wing Bowl appearance, surprising the crowd by popping out of a Lombardi Trophy float. Fresh off a life-saving surgery where part of his bowel was removed, Flair told the cheering crowd he’s been coming to Philadelphia since 1979, and has a lot of love this year for the Eagles.

“To be the team, you gotta’ beat the team. And right now, I’ll say it – the Eagles are the team!” Flair said. “And the Patriots? Not going to happen, baby.”

With the microphone still in his hand, Flair quickly shifted from his role as an Eagles cheerleader to hit on a nearby wingette, asking on air, “What’s your name? Penelope? You look great.”

The biggest cheer of the morning came when Nyseem Porter, a senior at Prep Charter High School better known to Eagles fans as the “Black Eagle,” entered the Wells Fargo Center.

Here’s how Wing Bowl 26 played out:

9:04 a.m. – Molly Schuyler sets a new Wing Bowl record

Here were the final totals for Wing Bowl 26:

501 – Molly Schuyler
396 – Dave Tiger “Wings & Things” Brunelli
388- Bob “Notorious B.O.B.” Shoudt
262 – Dan “Killer Kennedy” Kennedy
250 – Monty “Moe Train” Wiradilaga

8:58 a.m. – Unstoppable

8:53 a.m. – Rankings heading into round three

455 – Molly Schuyler
382 – Dave Tiger “Wings & Things” Brunelli
373 – Bob “Notorious B.O.B.” Shoudt
233 – Dan “Killer Kennedy” Kennedy
231 – Monty “Moe Train” Wiradilaga

8:52 a.m. – Wingette of the Year

8:44 a.m. – Two rounds down. One to go

8:42 a.m. – Nadia is over it

Heather “Nadia White” Cahill, who came into Wing Bowl with 16-1 odds, is officially done.

8:38 a.m. – Here’s how a two-time Wing Bowl champ eats chicken wings

Meanwhile, last year’s Wing Bowl champion is struggling.

8:30 a.m. – Molly Schuyler in the lead, on pace for 500 wings

After the first round of eating, two-time champ Molly Schuyler is in first place, downing 241 wings.

Dave Tiger “Wings & Things” Brunelli is in second place at 224 chicken wings. Bob “Notorious B.O.B.” Shoudt, last year’s Wing Bowl champion, is in third place with 218 wings.

8:27 a.m. – This year’s Wingettes

Here are the 10 women vying to be named this year’s Wingette of the Year.

8:23 a.m. – A 97.5 The Fanatic fan is attending this “wing eating event”

8:06 –  A Limp Bizkit update

The cover band’s name? Wet Bizkit.

8:03 a.m. – One Wing Bowl competitor is already out

Apostolos “Pittsburgh Paulie” Vasiliou, who entered the competition wearing Patriots garb, quit after eating just one chicken wing.

“Just like the Steelers did,” WIP Morning Show co-host Rhea Hughes dryly joked.

This was really no surprise. Ahead of this morning’s competition, Pittsburgh Paulie’s odds of winning were 1,000,000-1.

8:02 a.m. – Let the competition begin

7:58 a.m. – The rules of Wing Bowl

Here are the rules of Wing Bowl, read by Flyers public address announcer (and 2018 Wing Bowl Hall of Fame inductee) Lou Nolan.

7:51 a.m. – And here’s last year’s Wing Bowl champ, Notorious B.O.B.

7:49 a.m. – Wing Bowl favorite Molly Schuyler makes her entrance

Molly Schuyler, the two-time Wing Bowl champion weighing in at 127 lbs, is today’s odds-on favorite to win Wing Bowl 26. Her goal is to eat 500 chicken wings. In 2015, Schuyler downed 440 chicken wings, but finished in second place behind Patrick Bertoletti, who devoured a record 444 chicken wings.

7:35 a.m. – Ric Flair: “The Eagles are the team!”

Wrestling legend Ric Flair made his second-straight Wing Bowl appearance, surprising the crowd by popping out of a Lombardi Trophy float.

Fresh off a live-saving surgery where part of his bowel was removed, Flair told the cheering crowd he’s been coming to Philadelphia since 1979, and has a lot of love this year for the Eagles.

“To be the team, you gotta’ beat the team. And right now, I’ll say it – the Eagles are the team!” Flair said. “And the Patriots? Not going to happen, baby.”

With the microphone still in his hand, Flair quickly shifted from his role as an Eagles cheerleader to hit on a nearby wingette, asking on air, “What’s your name? Penelope? You look great.”

– Rob Tornoe

7:20 a.m. – “Eagles fan hits pole” makes an appearance

Jigar Desai, better known as the Eagles fan who was knocked into next Sunday by a pillar while chasing a SEPTA subway train ahead of the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 21, made an appearance at Wing Bowl to let all the fans know he’s OK.

“Philly style, we get knocked down, but we get right back up! Wooooo!” an excited Desai exclaimed. “Boom! Boom!”

7:12 a.m. – So many contestants

7:10 a.m. – This guy

6:58 a.m. – Loud cheers as the “Black Eagle” enters Wing Bowl

Nyseem Porter, a senior at Prep Charter High School better known to Eagles fans as the “Black Eagle,” garnered the loudest cheer of the morning as he entered Wing Bowl.

Following the Eagle’s 38-7 win over the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, Porter went viral thanks to a three-second appearance in a video of post-game celebrations on South Broad Street.

“It’s funny, I saw that guy on top of the car coming toward us and then this guy turned a camera toward me, so I just said, ‘Yeah,'” Nyseem told Philly Voice’s Brian Hickey. “Then, the texts started blowing up… ‘I think you’re going viral on Twitter.'”

6:54 a.m. – Even more floats

6:48 a.m. – Security is no joke at Wing Bowl

6:38 a.m. – Wing Bowl honors longtime Flyers announcer Lou Nolan

Lou Nolan, the longtime public address announcer for the Flyers who has been the voice of games since 1972, was inducted into the Wing Bowl Hall of Fame by WIP Morning Show co-host Al Morganti, who joked his banner is now in the rafters next to Flyers legends Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent.

“As a true legendary announcer, you can decline if you choose to,” Cataldi noted.

“Are you kidding? I love Wing Bowl!” Nolan responded.

Here’s a photo of Nolan, taken during a signing for his new book, “If these walls could talk.”

– Rob Tornoe

6:36 a.m. – More floats enter the arena

6:22 a.m. – The Eagles are going to ‘cream’ the Patriots

6:21 a.m. – A mild Wing Bowl?

There are a lot of empty seats here in the Wells Fargo Center. This is my third year covering Wing Bowl and it is easily the most tame so far.

– Nick Vadala

6:14 a.m. – The Wing Bowl precession begins

6:05 a.m. – Cataldi begins his broadcast from Wing Bowl

6:00 a.m. – Here’s the scene before the action starts

 

Most Popular on Philly.com