Sports fans know better than anybody that repeating as champion is sometimes much more difficult than reaching the top in the first place.

In the world of competitive pumpkin growing (yes, that's a real thing), that has proven to be no problem for one Minnesota man.

He's been the king of the gigantic gourd world for four years running.

Anoka's Travis Gienger is once again reigning supreme as his 2024 entry tipped the scales at a whopping 2,471 pounds to win the annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, recently.

The horticulture teacher beat his closest competitor by 6 pounds to clinch the victory, although he did fall short of his world record entry from last year's event, which weighed in at 2,749 pounds,

This year's winner is now off to Southern California, where a team of pumpkin professionals will do a 3D carve on it at a Halloween event.

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