While Super Bowl fans were getting ready for the big game, some students were chowing down on chicken wings in another type of bowl.

Saturday marked the Blue and White Society's 3rd annual Wing Bowl and silent auction to raise money to support the State College Area Food Bank.

About 30 people participated in the Buffalo wing-eating contest, which was held in the Pollock Rec Room. An additional 50 people came out to support the event and bid on various items like footballs autographed by Penn State football players and gift certificates to local businesses.

Wing-eating participants, who paid $5 in advance or $7 at the door, were staged in rounds of six eaters, who were given 15 minutes to consume as many wings as possible. Gene Coletta (junior-elementary education) was this year's winner who managed to eat a total of 44 wings.

One contender, Joni Belfus (freshman-international politics) said she was a bit disappointed in her performance. Finishing out her race with a total of 15 wings, Belfus said the crowd was a bit intimidating.

"I wish I could've eaten more," she said. "But I felt funny eating in front of so many people -- I usually can eat a whole thing of 25, but that's in private."

Erin Bankey (sophomore-public relations) gathered to watch the event and cheer on friends. "It's good to come out and see people... it's a fun time," Bankey said. "I had breakfast this morning and I'm not that big of a wing person, but it's funny to watch them stuff their faces."

Members of the Blue and White Society were on hand to keep the event running smoothly and to keep participants clean during their eating frenzy.

Kathleen Pitterle, director of public relations of the society, was busy providing the participants with water and munchies like carrots and celery -- before the big event.

"We have wipes, paper towels and water," she said. "We just try to make it a little bit easier on them because it can get messy."

But some, like Kevin Pail (junior-special education), were much more concerned with the silent auction than the wing-eating contest.

Pail was trying to outbid his competition for the chance to take home an autographed bobble-head figure of John Cappelletti, Penn State's only Heisman Trophy winner.

"I'm a huge football fan, and I would've been willing to pay $500 for it," Pail said.

When the bidding ended, Pail won the piece with a final bid of $76. A football autographed by Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny went for $43.

Blue and White Society president Erin Grady said her group was satisfied with the amount of money raised.

"It was a success," she said. "Everything goes to charity, so whatever we can give them is good."

Damon's Grill, 1031 E. College Ave., was responsible for donating 2,500 wings that were used during the event. By the end of the afternoon, organizers said that there were a good amount of wings left that would be added to the silent auction.