Bertoletti Beats Chestnut in Ribs...by a tenth of a lb!

John Ascuaga's Nugget has a new Rib King in the name of Deep Dish. Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti downed 5.8 pounds of ribs in 12 minutes to narrowly edged out top-ranked Joey Chestnut by one tenth of a pound. That's right, 1.6 ounces separated the two Major League Eating titans in a contest that was almost too close to believe. Bertoletti's win prevented Chestnut from capturing his 4th consecutive Best in West Nugget World Rib Eating Championship. Early reports into MLE Headquarters have a capacity crowd overflowing the Main Stage at the popular Reno rib festival.

Erik "The Red" Denmark finished in 3rd with 4.7 pounds while 7th-ranked Hall Hunt took 4th place with 3.9 pounds.

Bertoletti will have one day to savor the victory before standing aside Chestnut again in Houston Friday night when the Kolache Factory presents the World Kolache Eating Championship at Minute Maid Park after the Astros-Phillies Game.

FULL RESULTS

Pat Bertoletti 5.8 lbs ($2,500) Joey Chestnut 5.7 lbs ($1,500) Erik Denmark 4.7 lbs ($750) Hall Hunt 3.9 lbs ($250) Marco Marquez 3.8 lbs Ron Koch 3.6 lbs Ryan McKillop 3.0 lbs Jason Erb 2.7 lbs Shawn Kirby 2.0 lbs Curtis Richardson 1.6 lbs Rodney Wear 1.4 lbs Aaron Lamb 1.2 lbs