It's half past noon on Friday, 30 minutes until go time, and Mike "Maestro"Crouse is hungry.

He's hungry for victory. He's hungry for glory. Most of all, Crouse is hungry for egg rolls.

Crouse was one of five lucky winners chosen in a drawing to compete in an egg roll eating contest at the China Star restaurant, the winner of which advances to the World Rhubarb Pie Eating Contest at the North Dakota State Fair in Minot on July 29. The state contest offers a grand prize of $1,500, and is expected to draw nationally ranked eaters.

"The sixth- and 12th- ranked eaters in the nation might be there," said Bo Kusick of Minot's KMOT-TV, which sponsored Friday's eat-off.

Crouse came to the restaurant with a whole group of friends, family, and supporters well before the scheduled 1 p.m. start so he would have time to get into the zone.

"The competition doesn't start at one," Crouse said. "It started three days ago. Last night, Ivisualized and did some stomach stretching exercises."

This wasn't his first time at the table. Crouse has been in two pie eating contests. He placed second to his uncle in the last one, but disputes the official results. The winner, Crouse said, spilled rather than ate much of the pie.

"I ate the most, no doubt about it," Crouse said.

Going into the eat-off, Crouse said his strategy was based on heavy use of sweet and sour sauce, and that he hoped to down 20 egg rolls.

"I know that's kind of a big number, but I got to shoot high if Iwant to win big,"he said.

As the China Star cooks prepared the last of the 150 egg rolls, Crouse started to get nervous.

"My biggest fear, truly, is egg roll coming out my nose," he said. "That's what happened with the pumpkin pie. That wasn't so bad. Everything smelled like pumpkin pie for a couple hours."

Fortunately for Crouse, among his entourage was Tim "Hollow Man" Green. Green is the "wing man,"a job with many important responsibilities, including helping to steady Crouse's nerves.

"First and foremost is safety,"Green said. "We don't want any choking. Second, obviously I've got to be on top of time and where the competitors are at. Motivate - that's what I do."

But as the clock ticked steadily toward starting time, there was a problem. Crouse was still the only one of the five participants to show. Organizers scrambled to contact the others, but to no avail. It looked like Crouse would get the default victory, and all his preparation would be for naught.

Then, in a stunning series of developments, Crouse's wing man and two other supporters defected from his team and signed on as participants. "Blazin'"Brandi Powell, there to cover the event for KFYR-TV, threw her hat in the ring, and the competition was back on.

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The clock is set to five minutes, and two plates - each holding 15 vegetable egg rolls - are placed in front of each eater. The crowd does a countdown, and the four men and one woman cram their faces with egg rolls. Crouse and Green immediately take the lead. Within a minute, Crouse abandons the sweet and sour strategy, realizing it's only slowing him down. Despite a significant size difference, Green matches him bite for bite, utilizing a two-handed method to dunk one egg roll while shoving another into his mouth.

Then, Green makes a bizarre tactical blunder, answering a call to his cell phone in the middle of the contest, managing only a couple garbled "hellos" before regaining focus.

When time expires, the egg rolls are counted. Crouse's experience and preparation pay off - he's the winner, with a total of 16 egg rolls consumed. Green tallied 14.5, and Powell, the last-place finisher, managed to down just 5.5 egg rolls.

With the victory, Crouse became one of five North Dakota qualifiers for the pie eating contest at the fair, joining the winners of competitions in Minot, Fargo and Dickinson. Ten other spots will go to professional eaters, said fair marketing director Jessica Bullinger. The event is drawing some excitement, Bullinger said.

"Every year we have one thing that catches people's attention,"she said. "Last year, it was the dodgeball competition; this year, it's definitely the eating competition."

Crouse has a message for the other qualifiers.

"To my competitors at state, The Maestro's coming. Be ready,"he said, with tongue, and maybe still a little egg roll, in cheek. "Egg rolls ain't even my strong point. What do you think is going to happen when I get to rhubarb pie? Lights out."

Although he didn't reach his target number, Crouse was happy with the results and glad to have his first officially recognized victory. He also gained important experience, he said.

"Initially I relied on the sweet and sour too much, but as it turned out, water was my greatest ally," he said. "With a wing man and knowing the water strategy, I think I could hit 20."

Powell also learned a valuable lesson.

"I learned that I never again want to have an egg roll,"she said.

(Reach reporter Zachary Franz at 250-8261 or zach.franz@;bismarcktribune.com.)