Some shocking and tragic news:

In the early morning of November 19, Aaron Osthoff forced his way into the home of Megan Breuer in Potosi (in southwest Wisconsin about 20 miles from Osthoff’s hometown of Dubuque, Iowa). She called 911 and after police arrived, Osthoff fired his gun multiple times. He severely injured Breuer and then took his own life with his firearm. She was hospitalized and was listed in stable condition as of November 22. Police said that Breuer and Osthoff knew each other, but no additional information about their relationship has been divulged.

Osthoff was a member of Major League Eating from 2011 to 2014. He competed in the 2011, 2013 and 2014 Nathan’s finals, finishing 6th in the men’s division in 2013. In 2012, Osthoff and his wife Heather both qualified for the Nathan’s July 4 championship, but they did not participate in that competition that year. In 2015, Osthoff retired from Major League Eating. He concluded his competitive eating career with a victory in the Dubuque Wing Bowl later that year.

In February 2020, Osthoff was featured in a New York Time article about his acquisition of a copy of the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment report that was autographed by former President Trump. The document was sold by Goldin Auctions for a price of $81,180.

On June 30, 2021, Osthoff’s 20 year old daughter Brielle took her own life. Her struggle with mental health was the subject of a September article by the Telegraph Herald. The Osthoffs have two other children: Brittany Murphrey and Brock Osthoff.

Osthoff’s social media offers minimal clues into what might have triggered the tragedy. His final facebook post on November 17 was an uncaptioned picture of himself in a room with no visible items other than high heeled shoes on a shelf. His twitter and instagram have not been updated for over a year.

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Tracy “Mmm” Goode has an interview with Aaron “A Train” Osthoff and “Big” Brian Subich about their retirement from Major League Eating. Brian Subich announces that he plans to run for District Magistrate Judge in the future. They both advise prospective competitive eaters to focus on fun over earnings and would like to see more prize money allocated to lower finishers.

Osthoff and Subich are two of five eaters who have qualified multiple times for the Nathan’s finals and have recently left Major League Eating (or are competing in non-MLE events), which should open up some spots in the 2015 finals. (Osthoff also qualified for the 2012 finals and did not compete).

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update results

Men
1) Aaron Osthoff 27
2) Nate Biller 18, wild card leader
3) Ronnie Hartman 17

Women
1) Val Bromann 5.75

Aaron Osthoff, Ronnie Hartman and Nate Biller headline the males competing for a spot in the 2014 Nathan’s finals at Bally’s in Tunica, MS.

Val Bromann is the only female who has announced she will compete.

Ronnie Hartmann has a picture of a billboard promoting the contest.

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update June 9 The Globe and Mail has an article about Meredith Boxberger.

update Nathan’s Famous Canada has a facebook gallery
The Calgary Herald has an article reporting that Nicole Anderson was disqualified.

Men
1) Aaron Osthoff 31 hot dogs

Women
1) Meredith Boxberger 23

Meredith Boxberger appeared on CTV yesterday to promote the contest. The Calgary Herald also has a gallery of extreme eating contests.

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update June 4 Nathan’s Famous Canada facebook has a http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/06/02/hotdog-win-worth-relishing“>gallery.

update June 3 Lee Vilinsky wrote a column for his student newspaper decrying the Food Network for its excess. (via Ryan Batty)

update #3 The Calgary Sun has an article which says Heather Osthoff ate 7 hot dogs.

update #2 CBC.ca lists the Canadian winners as Nicole Anderson and Lee Vilinisky, subject of yesterday’s profile in the Calgary Herald. Nicole signed up for the contest this morning.

update CJAY 92 has a gallery

Robert Firlotte reports that Aaron Osthoff won the men’s division of today’s Nathan’s qualifier in Calgary with 33 hot dogs. Aaron’s wife Heather appears to have won the women’s division according to this picture. update Heather ate 12 hot dogs as did the Canadian female champion Nicole. The male Canadian champion was Gino with 16 hot dogs.

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Aaron Osthoff’s total was announced as one pound in last night’s Hooters qualifier. This is the smallest reported amount he has had in a wing contest. (In a two minute charity contest earlier this year, he ate 1.3 pounds.)

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The IFOCE rookie of the year is usually someone who qualifies for the Nathan’s finals. The most likely current choices for that honor are Adrian Morgan and Aaron Osthoff. A head to head breakdown based on information in the eatfeats database follows.

The new poll asks who you think will be the 2011 IFOCE rookie of the year and the Aaron Osthoff is interviewed in the new MLE podcast.

Adrian Morgan

• First IFOCE contest: January 9, 2010
• Number of IFOCE contests: 19
• Money won: $3,716.66
• Average place: 3.68
• Average Nathan’s qualifier performance: 23.5 HDB (5 qualifiers)

Aaron Osthoff

• First IFOCE contest: September 18, 2010
• Number of IFOCE contests: 11
• Money won: $4250
• Average place: 3.81
• Average Nathan’s qualifier performance: 27.25 HDB (2 qualifiers)

Head to head results: 2 (Morgan) – 3 (Osthoff) Results listed after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

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update June 10 Brian Subich has uploaded a contest video

update June 9 #2 WPXI and TimesOnline have videos.

update June 9 Pittsburgh Live has an article.

update 5:00 WPXI has an article and slideshow. The Pittsburgh YWCA has a gallery.

update 1:07 JC Ciesielski has some pictures

update 12:41 Official Results – men
1) Aaron Osthoff 28
2) Micah “Wing Kong” Collins 27
3) Brian Subich 22
4T) “Wild” Bill Myers 16
4T) Ted Wilson 16
6) Cale Kirby 9.5
7) Jaymi Wilson 9
8T) Steve Myers 7.5
8T) Kurtis Rucker 7.5
10) Justin Purtee 5

women
1) Juliet Lee 28

update 12:38 The contest appears to be over. Someone (possibly Juliet Lee) ate 28.

update 12:34 The contest has started.

update 12:30 A picture from the “Bob Uecker” seats.

The MLE facebook reports that Micah “Wing Kong” Collins, “Wild” Bill Myers and Juliet Lee will also compete. (via comment)

A list of Brian Subich’s Nathan’s performances are available after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

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11:53 Ryan Shams has emailed additional results

1) Pat Bertoletti 39 dozen
2) Aaron Osthoff 38 dozen
3) Adrian Morgan 32 dozen
4) Crazy Legs Conti 29 dozen
5) Gary Klucken 38 dozen
8) Ryan Shams 11 dozen
10 Mia “Meatballz” Davekos 7 dozen

3:30 Crawfish has the top 3, via Adrian Morgan’s facebook: 1st Pat Bertoletti 39 dozen 2nd Aaron Osthoff 38 3rd Adrian Morgan 32 dozen

3:16 “Patrick Bernaletti” was the winner.

3:06 The unnamed winner ate 39 dozen in 8 minutes, a new record.

update 3 pm eastern The contest has started.

The contest should start at 1 pm central, 2 pm eastern

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update May 30 Atlantic City Weekly and Brian Seiken have contest videos.

update 4:52 Full results have been posted Part 1 | Part 2

Men
1) Pat Philbin 27
2) Aaron Osthoff 26.5
3) Crazy Legs Conti 22
4) Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston 18.25
5) Yasir Salem 15
6) “Wild” Bill Myers 14.5
7) Joe Lopardo 12
8) Tom Grille 11
9) Andrew Kossuth 10
10 Tengiz Mammadov 4.5

Women
1) Sonya Thomas 34, 9th consecutive best performance in a Nathan’s qualifier
2) Elise Rosenberg 8
3) Kira Nightingale 6

update 3:23 Melissa Savoy reports that Pat Philbin won the men’s contest. A picture of Pat and his trophy.

update 2:55 Sonya’s total was 34 hot dogs. This is Sonya’s ninth Nathan’s qualifier victory in a row.

update 2:50 Hollywood Bee reports a woman won the overall contest (almost certainly Sonya Thomas)

The contest is expected to start at 2 pm.

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