MPA grad places third at Coney Island

Patrick Bertoletti, a 2003 graduate from Morgan Park Academy finished in third place at the 92nd Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest on July 4 in Brooklyn, NY. Bertoletti ate 49 hot dogs and buns (HDBs) in twelve minutes.

Bertoletti only trailed the champion Joey Chestnut (66 HDB) and six-time champion Takero Kobayashi (63 HDB). Both Chestnut and Kobayashi set records with their numbers.

Bertoletti is one of the few eaters who have beaten Chestnut, as he defeated him in a jalepeno eating contest earlier this year at the St. Patrick's Day Chowdown in Savannah, GA.

He is known as one of the "young guns of the sport" and has been refered as "the future of Competitive Eating."

This was the second year in a row in which Bertoletti competed in the famous competion. He ate 34.5 HDB in the 2006 contest. Bertoletti is the third ranked competitive eater eater in the world. He has world records in Corned Beef and Cabbage, Key Lime pie, Whole Turkey, and 16" pizza among another of others. He set 11 of his 12 records in 2006.

After graduating from MPA in 2003, Bertoletti became a culinary student at Kendall College. He hopes to become a chef and is an expert in the culinary arts.