Printable Version - Wagner Reclaims the Chickin' Pickin' Title
A Former Champ Regains His Title During Chickin’ Pickin’ VII at Pork in the Park
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, Jonathan Wagner, a former two-time champion, reclaimed the title of Mountaire Chickin’ Pickin’ Champion and set a NEW World Record at 17 lbs, 8 oz. of picked meat!
(Salisbury, MD) On Saturday, April 21st, in near perfect weather conditions, Mountaire Farms hosted Chickin’ Pickin’ VII at the Pork in the Park Festival in Salisbury, MD. With great food, live music and plenty of excitement on tap, it seemed all of Delmarva was trying to squeeze onto the festival grounds at Winter Place Park. In the center of all the commotion, there was the Mountaire Chickin’ Pickin’ Stage with Cat Country 97.5 and 105.9’s afternoon host E.J. Foxx guiding the hundreds of onlookers through the action on stage.
Hours earlier dozens of patrons had lined up for a chance to compete in the 20 person main event scheduled to run from 2pm to 4pm. By 2pm the Mountaire stage was surrounded by fans, all looking to grab a free t-shirt and cheer on this year’s competitors. All of whom were competing for the $500 prize and title of Mountaire Chickin’ Pickin’ Champion. Cat Country Radio’s E.J. Foxx and Mountaire’s Director of Community Relations Roger Marino started things off by explaining the rules of Chickin’ Pickin’. 
There would be four rounds of preliminary action with each round featuring five participants. Each round would be five minutes of meat pickin’ pandemonium where competitors have to pick and shred all the meat from the oven roasted chickens prepared by Em-ings BBQ of Selbyville, DE. That includes the meat from the breast, thighs, wings, legs and back. All the picked meat must be shredded and placed in each contestant’s meat tray. There can be zero bones or large chunks of meat in the tray as these items will be removed before weighing. Contestants will have access to as many ‘birds as they need, however they can’t move onto a fresh bird until all the meat is picked from the first one. At the end of the five minutes each contestant’s tray is weighed with the highest picked meat total advancing to the finals.
With the rules and explained and the contestants introduced, it was finally time for the excitement to begin. A four-time Chickin’ Pickin’ finalist, Chester Wright, easily moved on from round 1 with an impressive weight of 12 lbs, 8 oz. Round 2 was more of the same as former two-time champion Jonathan Wagner advanced with a weight of 15 lbs, 1 oz. In round 3 the action was a bit tighter as Bobbi Chandler edged Brandy Wagner, 10 lbs, 7oz. to 8 lbs, 8oz. Round 4 featured the best action of the day as Mike Medley squeaked out a 3 oz. victory with a weight of 6 lbs, 3 oz.
The five minute finale turned into a three man race as Jonathan Wagner, Chester Wright and a confident Mike Medley burned through the last of the 144 chickens provided by Em-ings BBQ. From the naked eye it was close throughout with all three men filling their meat tray to the brim. As the trays were weighed each competitor stood anxiously awaiting the totals. Mike Medley scored and impressive 14 lbs, 7 oz. Chester Wright topped out at 15 lbs, 3 oz. But in the end, Jonathan Wagner proved he was still a force to dealt with, weighing in at 17 lbs, 8 oz and setting a NEW Chickin’ Pickin’ Record, demolishing the previous mark of 16, lbs 9 oz.
For his efforts Jonathan took home at the Chickin’ Pickin’ Plaque and the $500 grand prize. The next Mountaire Chickin’ Pickin’ Event is scheduled for Saturday, June 16th at the Delmarva Chicken Festival in Salisbury, MD. For more info visit www.mountaire.com/chickinpickin/