A mixture of water and half-chewed chicken nuggets dripped down Grant Bacharach's face as he tried to swallow his final mouthful of food to lead his team to victory.

Bacharach, (senior-economics), a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, 240 N. Burrowes, was one of the greeks who competed in Delta Delta Delta (TriDelta) sorority's fifth annual Nugget Bowl last night.

Twenty-four teams competed in the philanthropy, and a room full of greeks cheered them on. Beta Sigma Beta fraternity, 255 E. Fairmount Ave., helped TriDelta by hosting the event.

The competition was divided into brackets so that teams of three sorority members each competed against each other, then teams of three fraternity members each competed against each other.

Lauren Hecht (sophomore-communication sciences and disorders), TriDelta philanthropy chair, yelled "go!" and announced "eat fast but try not to throw up."

All of the sudden, Bacharach poured an entire cup of water over his team's nuggets.

Bacharach's team had its strategies honed as they were no strangers to eating contests. Bacharach won the homecoming pizza-eating contest, and teammate Mike Riefner (freshman-engineering) won the homecoming wing-eating contest.

Their strategy of soaking the nuggets and mashing them with their hands proved effective as their team was victorious.

"We dipped [the nuggets] in the water because it helps you break them down," Bacharach said.

A team from TriDelta won the sorority half of the competition. Even after devouring three platefuls of nuggets, Mallory McCloskey (freshman-marketing) said, "I'm actually not that full."

She and her team have competed in eating competitions before as well. Earlier this year, the girls competed in a Pokey Stick eating contest, and now they're gearing up for a hot dog eating contest later this month.

"We love the food eating contest philanthropies," McCloskey said.

Though the contest wasn't easy, McCloskey and her teammates agreed that it was worth it to be able to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Hecht said they will be able to donate about $1,100 to the charity.

Even with their stomachs stuffed full with about 30 nuggets each, Courtney Gushue (freshman-kinesiology), a member of the winning sorority team, said her and her teammates might make a trip to McDonald's later in the evening.