Joey Chestnut unseated as Buffalo chicken wing king

BUFFALO, N.Y. (KTVU) - What's an American holiday weekend without a food eating contest involving the Bay Area's own gastro throw-down king, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut?

The famed competitive eater was on-hand for the annual U.S. Chicken Wing Eating Championship, appropriately held in none other than Buffalo, New York.

The contest's emcee announced Chestnut's name as the crowd erupted in cheers.

The San Jose resident scarfed down an impressive 276 wings during a 12-minute span, but it was not enough to hold his reign as "wing king."

He was beat out by rival, Geoffrey Esper who downed a record 281 wings. If you do the math, that's more than 23 wings a minute. 

Esper's win upset Chestnut's streak as the winner of the U.S. Wing Eating Championship the past five contests. 

The 35-year-old Chestnut has a long list of accomplishments as a professional eater. They include 12-time champion of Nathan's Famous Hot Dog-Eating Contest at Coney Island on the Fourth of July. In 2018, he  set a record of 74 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

On July 29, he consumed 413 chicken wings over the course of 12 hours at a Hooters restaurant in Georgia, for an event marking "National Chicken Wing Day." 

In 2007, he came out on top in Philadelphia's Wing Bowl, when he ate 182 wings in a span of 30 minutes. That averages to six wings every 30 seconds. 

With Esper's win over the weekend, he is proving to be a formidable rival for Chestnut, as the 44-year-old competitive eater has set his own set of records by chowing down ​​​​​​items including pizzas, pretzels, bratwursts, and pork roll sandwiches.

This story was reported from Oakland, Calif.