Bartley Weaver, a Bowling Green-based Kentucky State Police trooper, will appear on the second season of the television competition “The Titan Games” beginning Monday.

Bartley Weaver IV has long been intrigued by the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

On Monday, he’ll be competing in it.

The Bowling Green resident will see how many hot dogs and buns he can down in 10 minutes at the iconic Nathan’s Famous flagship restaurant on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island while up against the world’s top-ranked competitive eaters.

“Man, it’s something that I’ve wanted to do ever since I remember seeing it on ESPN. I’m like, ‘Dang, who are these dudes throwing down hot dogs? That looks wild, it looks disgusting, but it looks fun at the same time,’ ” Weaver said. “Here lately I’ve just been practicing and training and doing the best I can and trying to be active on the pro circuit, that way maybe I get that invite and it happened this year. I’m very grateful for it.”

The event returns to its recognizable location after being forced from it the last two Independence Days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The women’s competition is slated to start at 10 a.m. CT, while the men will follow at 11:30 a.m. CT. The event will be broadcast on ESPN.

“The Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest is arguably the most iconic sporting event in American history,” Major League Eating Chair George Shea said in a news release. “The event is a crucible through which greatness is forged.”

For Weaver, competing against 15 others for the $20,000 prize has long been a goal.

The Cave City native played football at Caverna High School and Kentucky Wesleyan College before turning his focus to bodybuilding, but he also had a talent for competitive eating. Weaver says friends used to tag him in posts on social media about local amateur competitions and he’d win small cash prizes.

Then, he got his big break in his college town by eating a Kentucky staple.

“I heard about the world mutton eating contest in Owensboro at the BBQ Festival. Most of these you’ve got to travel to – whoever sponsors the event, that’s where the events are held,” Weaver said. “Being my old stomping grounds – Owensboro – I was like, ‘I’m sure I can stay with a buddy somewhere.’ I’d only have to drive there.

“I applied for it. I was an amateur. They usually only take one or two amateurs and put them on the table, just locals from the area, and I was like, ‘Man, this is my shot. I’ve been trying for years to get in. I think they might give me a chance if I put I’m from Owensboro and have a hometown crowd and all that stuff.’ I did that. I beat two or three pros that day on my debut and they offered me a three-year contract and I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ “

Weaver finished sixth out of 10 competitors in the 2019 event, downing 21 4-ounce mutton sandwiches in 10 minutes. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut – the top-ranked competitive eater in the world and 14-time Mustard Yellow Belt winner as Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest champion – won the mutton title that year with 52 sandwiches.

Weaver has since participated in several memorable competitions, like the 2021 Destination Outlets World Pumpkin Pie Eating Championship in Jeffersonville, Ohio, where he finished fifth by consuming 9 pounds, 2 ounces – 37 slices, he says – and was the closest he’s been to Chestnut, who won with 16 pounds, 12 ounces eaten. Or the Jack’s Donuts World Donut Hole Eating Championship on May 27 in New Castle, Ind., where he had his best professional placement by finishing fourth with 176 donut holes eaten in 8 minutes. Or the Oktoberfest Zinzinnati World Bratwurst Eating Championship last September in Cincinnati, where he was fifth with 34 brats eaten in 10 minutes – Weaver says that was the best crowd he’s competed in front of.

That’ll likely change Monday, when he participates in competitive eating’s biggest event of the year.

Joining Weaver are the likes of Chestnut, who holds the record with 76 hot dogs and buns, as well as second-ranked eater Geoffrey Esper and fourth-ranked Nick Wehry. The 16 participants this year all rank in the top 23, including Weaver, who ranks No. 16 according to Major League Eating and is the top-ranked eater in Kentucky – and the first from the state to compete at Coney Island in the event, he says.

“I’ve competed a lot with these guys,” Weaver said. “That’s one thing about me, is I’m not scared to go in. I know what I’m capable of and I’m going to go hard and whatever happens, happens. I definitely respect those and many others that have beaten me before, but I’m just glad to be on the stage and get to do something not many people can do.”

The last time Weaver tried hot dogs competitively was about three years ago at a qualifier, where he ate 23 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. He had his first practice run for Monday’s event last week on his apartment balcony and hit 30 with a mix of Nathan’s Famous and store brand – “the Nathan’s Famous natural beef casing dogs are a little bit harder to chew through,” he says.

He’s realistic with where he stands against his competition, and is hoping to crack the top 10 in the event. Weaver planned some more practice before the event, and will try to avoid “flavor fatigue” by dipping his buns in different drinks during the competition – a trick he learned from Gordon Hazzard, who placed sixth last year with 32.5 hot dogs and buns consumed.

Competitive eating is just a small part of Weaver’s unique resume.

He hardly looks like somebody who would force extreme amounts of food into his body. The 6-foot-1, 275-pound Weaver is also a professional bodybuilder. He counteracts “some big cheat meals” with fasting and will try to go into Monday’s event “empty” – he might have some almond butter or a protein shake the day before, he says. Weaver has a training business and supplement line.

“I would rather do Stairmaster for an hour training for a bodybuilding show than do the food stretch and the water stretch and all that stuff, man, because it goes against everything I’ve ever tried to do with my body,” he said.

Weaver also competed in the NBC series “The Titan Games,” with host and executive producer Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, led the Tennessee Titans onto the field in 2019 as Hyperion and made the arrest in the attack on U.S. Sen. Rand Paul while working as a Kentucky State Police officer. He’s now also preparing to try his hand at acting, he says.

“Man, the good Lord has blessed me with a lot of opportunities and I keep giving him credit for setting me up for those,” Weaver said. “I tell you what – a lot of people are scared to audition these days. … I’ve just been blessed with a couple of awesome opportunities and I took advantage of each and every one of them.”

The next opportunity will take Weaver to Coney Island and fulfill a longtime goal, and he knows what he needs to do in those 10 minutes on stage with the world’s best competitive eaters.

“Man, I tell you what – I’ve done a lot of cool stuff in life. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of unrealistic opportunities. This is another one of them and I think this might rank the highest on the butterfly, goosebump level,” Weaver said. “It’s prime time. There’s 30,000 people watching you eat hot dogs as fast as possible. You can’t choke, you can’t puke and you can’t get tripled by Joey.”{&end}