March 20, 2025, marked 10 years of the Wilkerson competition “Chopped,” the victor being the “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis,” who whipped up magic in the kitchen.
For the competition, each team had to have at least two members. In the competition, every evening there were new teams and judges, which made it into a two-part competition. They were all given four required ingredients before the competition and then another ingredient the day of the competition.
The competition kicked off on Monday the Mar. 17 full of enthusiasm. Judging that night was Stacy Borboa-Peterson, a fan of the actual Chopped show, who just could not wait to be a part of Wilkerson’s version. Alongside her judging was Jessica Doty, the Director of Student Services, and Tamba-Kuii Baily.
The winner of night one was the “Whisk Takers,” a trio of freshman dormmates-Mckenna Melaas, Ashless Van Dyke and Jillian Carballo, whose herb crusted chicken over smoked salmon fettuccine with parmesan and garlic asparagus won the judges over. The team “Reheated Nachos” was brought together by senior Ethan Bergeman. “I got the group together because I thought it would be a fun thing to do before I graduate,” he said. This team consisted of four members: Ethan Bergeman, Ernesto Rios Diaz, Samanth Roy and Arwyn Berke. In the end, this team did not win, but they had a blast so much so that Ethan said, “It was a great experience, and I would 100 percent recommend it to others to try it.” Another team, Siobhan Kissee and Jalie Bauer, made up the duo of “Selke Sweethearts.”
Day two brought an array of judges, including the UND Police Chief Clark Rodney and Alex Pokornowski who has been a judge for almost every Chopped competition. Pokornowski not only works at UND but also used to be a student here. Heloves these competitions because “the Chopped competition is a great way for students to showcase creativity, teamwork, and attention to detail in a unique and fun competition.”
The winning team, “The Freaks,” were brought together by Kamea Modesitt and backed up by Faith when the original teammate, Dylan, could not make it. They astounded everyone with their grilled wedge salad with blistered tomato slaw, rye croutons, and a creamy Balsamic dressing for the first course and then baked pork belly with a cauliflower mash, a thyme blueberry sauce, and honey vinegar carrots that sadly did not make it onto the plate. For dessert, they made vanilla bean and rosemary pannacotta with a blueberry lemon sauce on top. Their team even astounded Wilkerson’s chef with their determination to tackle Pancetta within an hour.
The other two teams served up a fierce competition; the “Avit Nerds” were a duo group of freshmen who are aviation majors. Morgan Bendele and Claire Loudermilk became friends almost right away here at UND, living in the same dorm.
The last team, the “Spicy Slammers,” was a group of four, consisting of Brock Dewey, Kiefer Stark, Gabe Heart and Ben Rhyner. This team was brought together by Dewey, and they were all good friends before the competition. The “Spicy Slammers” were not there solely for the end goal of winning but also to have fun. That is exactly what they did when making pork belly sandwiches with a side salad.
On day three, the first round of the Chopped competition was won by the team of the night being what Ava Heffernan would say “the longest word that isn’t the Mary Poppins one” the “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.” This team that was practically made up in one night brought their A-game making an Italian bruschetta salad with a sweet vinaigrette dressing, a side of Italian Polenta topped with caramelized onions, toasted Italian bread topes with Sunday sauce, mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes, and for the main course, a steak, which they cooked in olive oil, salt, pepper and topped it with cilantro. Peter Li, Ava Heffernan, and Ariana Bennet did an amazing job on night three.
The “Chicken Sandwiches,” a group made up of a team with a cooking background, included Brennan Staples, Griffin Sack, Gwen Covey, and Maya Rhymes who made a parmesan crusted steak sandwich with Sunday sauce and marinated fresh mozzarella.
Even though the “Big Backs” did not win that night, they had a blast. This quartet included Kaidence Hese, Emalie Sorensen, Makenzie Bernard, and Kyle O’Leary.
The third day ending part one of the competition was judged by seasoned experts, such as Eric Shmidt and the Assistant Director of Dining Ed Martin, who has been a judge for various cooking coemptions and has been a part of a few.
The last day was full of excitement and even some nerves. The judges Cassie Gerhardt, Ted Birkholz, and Austin Bouvette were filled with excitement, and by the end of the evening, the “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis” won with a brown sugar rub roasted with a dill-dijon mustard sauce, which was on a bed of buttered and salted peas surrounded by roasted garlic thyme, mashed potatoes, and parsnip-potato rosettes.
Zoe Booth is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at zoe.booth@und.edu
