Eagan's Blake Westling Wins State Best Bagger Competition

It appears as though lightning has struck twice for Patrick Cullen.

He was the manager of the Byerly's Penn Avenue store in Minneapolis last year when a bagger from that store, Matt Medley, won the state competition.

This year, Cullen is a manager at the Eagan store which employs Blake Westling, who is, as of Saturday, the 2011 Minnesota Best Bagger.

Westling, who improved his last year's 55-second time by 18 seconds, says of his win, "It was surreal. I was estatic, so excited, and a little shocked."

When news of his win reached the Eagan Byerly's store, there were cheers. Operations Supervisor Pat Rozenberg says she went running through the store, tears in her eyes, telling everyone who would listen.

Westling, a student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, is planning on spending his winter break and January term practicing for February's national championship in Las Vegas, Nev., held during the National Grocers Association annual convention. 

This determined 20-year-old has his long-term sights set on medical school but, in the short term, he is planning on winning the $10,000 grand prize and making an appearance on the Late Night with David Letterman show. 

The Minnesota Best Bagger competition is sponsored by the Minnesota Grocers Association and the national championship, now in its 26th year, is a program of the National Grocers Association. Contestants are judged on speed, weight distribution, technique, and style, attitude and appearance.