SKOWHEGAN — A new pie-eating champion was crowned as the 206th annual Skowhegan State Fair concluded Saturday. Strategy was the name of the game, according to the victorious Weston Chase.

Chase, 8, was the champion in this year’s pie-eating contest at the Skowhegan State Fair. Competitors ranged in age from 6 to 11 and competed to see who could devour a small blueberry pie the fastest without using their hands.

Chase was the quickest 6- to 8-year-old to finish his pie, doing it in 2 minutes, 2 seconds. It was the third straight year he’d competed in the event, he said, but the first time he’d won. Strategy was his strength this time around, he said.

“I was smart. This morning, I didn’t eat much,” Chase said, blueberry pie still smeared around his lips. “I took the pie out of the tin, too, since it was getting in the way.”

A crowd of a couple dozen onlookers had gathered when the competition began Saturday afternoon, shouting “Get the crust!” and “Remember, no hands!” as kids dove face-first into the blueberry pies.

Mickenzee Prentiss has organized the pie-eating contest, pig scrambles and other kids’ events at the Skowhegan State Fair for the last three years. She said turnout this year far exceeded anything she’s seen in years past.

Weston Chase, 8, is the newest pie-eating champion, finishing his pie in a time of 2 minutes, 2 seconds, during Saturday’s contest at the Skowhegan State Fair. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

“We have 25 pies and two classes, and usually some kids sign up and we have leftover pies, but this year we have way more than 25 and so we’re picking names for the first time,” Prentiss said.

The pie-eating contest Saturday was among the events on day 10, the final day, of the Skowhegan State Fair.

Organizers of the fair, touted as the nation’s oldest consecutively running agricultural fair, expected about 100,000 people to attend throughout the fair’s 1 1/2-week run.

Chase was awarded a trophy for his victory, while other competitors were given rainbow-colored ribbons for their efforts. The youth events are one of Prentiss’ favorite parts of the fair, she said, largely because of how much fun the kids have and how supportive they are of one another.

“I absolutely love it,” Prentiss said. “I mean, it’s just fun, right?”