The place was messier than an attack from the bar crowds last night at the first "Eat a Fat Bitch and Get Rich" contest.

The final four contestants battled it out for a chance to win $1,000 in a contest that began in mid-February and was hosted by Are U Hungry?, 111 Sowers St., and LionMenus.com.

"It's been great," said Are U Hungry? owner George Tanios. "People have been coming in and checking the progress for months."

Finally, a month of eating culminated for three students and one Johnstown resident.

The first match-up pitted Kip Santos (senior-civil engineering) against the International Federation of Competitive Eating No. 29-ranked eater Brian "Yellowcake" Subich.

"Most eating contests are about quantity, and this is a short game," Subich said.

Subich wore an Alka-Seltzer U.S. Open Competitive Eating jersey over his 6-foot-6, 320-pound body. He was easily the largest man in the contest and the favorite to win.

When the whistle blew, the two contestants filled their mouths with a Fat Lion, a sandwich that contained cheesesteak, hamburger, chicken fingers, bacon, gyro meat, mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers. The sandwich weighed a pound and a half.

Santos had the confidence and the crowd, which was served free beer, behind his 160-pound build, but he failed to out-eat Subich, who finished his Lion in 1:48.

Tom Hines (sophomore-biology) and Joe Laureti (senior-science) went head-to-head next for the second spot in the finals.

Laureti, who will attend medical school in the fall, said he would be spending extra time in the gym next week. "Yeah, it's a health risk," he said. "But it's also for a thousand bucks."

Laureti almost lost it when a bad swallow came back out and shot across the room. Luckily for Laureti, he covered his mouth, kept his composure and edged out Hines.

"If you heave, you leave," said LionMenus.com co-creator Justin Goldman.

The finals matched Laureti against Subich for the last showdown.

Subich said he was shocked when, in the semifinals, Laureti beat his time by 20 seconds but said he was not going to change his technique.

"Bite, chew, chew, drink, swallow," he said.

The final was the messiest yet. Subich slugged his water with every bite, which splattered all over his jersey and the floor.

Laureti shoved his Fat Bitch, a cheesesteak, chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks sandwich extravaganza, as far a he could into the back of his throat, but it was all over in 58 seconds as Subich finished his final bite and won the cash.

"That was for J-town baby," he said, referring to his hometown.