Joey Chestnut's steak-eating record smashed by mom of four

Published May. 27, 2014 3:11 a.m. ET

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Joey Chestnut is the undisputed king of Independence Day, but Memorial Day now belongs to a 5-foot-7, 125-pound mother of four — and destroyer of 72-ounce steaks (and Chestnut's records).

Molly Schuyler, a professional competitive eater from Bellevue, Neb., who broke a world-renowned wing record earlier this year, on Monday broke one of Chestnut's red-meat records, the famed 72-ounce steak challenge at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. The challenge is a free meal to anyone who can eat the entire 72-ounce steak in one sitting within an hour, but has grown into another speed-eating challenge in professional circles.

But it's not just that Schuyler broke Chestnut's record. According to the eatfeats.com database, she nearly cut the seven-time July 4 Nathan's Hot Dog champion's record steak time in half — then ate another 72-ouncer for good measure.

According to eatfeats.com, Chestnut polished off the 72-ouncer in 8 minutes, 52 seconds in 2008, which at the time broke the 21-year-old record of former major league pitcher Frank Pastore.

"We witnessed history," Big Texan co-owner Danny Lee told the Amarillo Globe-News. "If there’s a zombie apocalypse, I want to stay away from this girl."

"The second one, I wasn’t going really for time," Schuyler told the Globe-News. "There was no point. I had to do it in under an hour, so I was fine."

To be fair, Schuyler is hardly a lightweight. In 2013, she signed with All Pro Eating, billed as the only independent competitive eating organization in the world. She made headlines in January when she won Wing Bowl 22 in Philadelphia by downing a record 363 wings in the three-round, 30-minute competition.

In all, Schuyler has downed more than two dozen records, including those for burgers, pizzas and potato wedges. Her biggest win was the Wing Bowl in the City of Brotherly Love, but Schuyler has dominated the Midwest through her career.

No word on whether she plans on being in Coney Island this Fourth of July.

Late Monday, Chestnut referenced Schuyler's performance in a conversation on Twitter, though it's tough to decipher whether he is congratulating her or claiming his record did not fall.

H/t: ESPN

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