In an attempt to recreate the magic of Coney Island’s 92-year-old tradition, kosher frat Alpha Epsilon Pi hosted a hot dog eating contest that was a real sausage fest. In fact, that’s what they called it: “Sausage Fest.” Justin Vlasits filed some photos and an account of what went down. 

AEPi’s hot dog eating contest began with a hail of smack-talking, much of it from AEPi junior Michael Drabkin. Freshman Kevin Elder, however, took it up a notch with a self-designed T-shirt proclaiming “Joey Chestnut Who?” referring to this year’s Nathan’s world champion who scarfed down 67 dogs on the way to a new world record.

At the last minute, Sausage Fest mastermind Aaron Goldman (right) entered the fray, deciding a showdown with only three contestants would be worse than the stomachache he’d get from several quickly devoured hot dogs plus his recently consumed lunch — a Spicy Special.

The rules were simple: eat the most hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. Kevin Elder pulled ahead of the pack in the first minute with two dogs using the Tokyo Style (where bun and dog are eaten separately) but soon slowed down from his breakneck pace, allowing Noah Mencow to catch up.

Mencow employed a revolutionary bun-squeezing technique that I have never witnessed in competitive eating (prompting such intellectual commentary as “Are you eating the hot dog or jerking it off?”).

Elder’s early lead, however, was able to stave off Kobayashi-style regurgitation and Mencow could not finish his final, tying dog. The freshman was declared champion, winning the prize pool of 50 American dollars.

Many hotdogs remained uneaten and the girls’ scheduled watermelon eating competition was cancelled due to lack of interest.

Final Hot Dog and Bun Standings

Kevin Elder: 9

Noah Mencow: 8

Aaron Goldman: 5

Michael Drubkin: 4