It's Delaware Wing Madness. Vote for the best wings in Delaware

Welcome to Delaware Wing Madness.

As March Madness turns the country into a den of brackets and semi-legal sports betting, we are pitting bar against tavern, brewery against grill, to find the best wings in all of Delaware.

Wings and sports go together like sports and wings — so universal they need no metaphor, and no comparison. Wings are sloppy America, big-plate America, moist towelette America. Indulgent, spicy, and beautiful America.

But there can be only one wing champion of Delaware.

We've already narrowed the contest down to 32 wing contenders. But from here on out, only your votes will determine the winner.

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This is a single elimination tournament. And each week, the number of wing contenders will reduce by half. Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, until finally there is one wing to rule them all.

The process is simple: For each matchup in the brackets below, vote for the wing you love or vote against the wing you hate.

Voting on the Round of 32 ends Wednesday, March 20, at 9 a.m.

How we chose the 32 contenders for best wings in Delaware

We asked readers for nominations, of course. (And a special shoutout is due here to the dedicated wing hounds of the Delaware subreddit, for their strong and compendious feelings on the subject.) We looked at the results of previous reader polls, and at wing contests and taste tests all over the state. We also bothered every wing enthusiast we know, including teenaged nephews.

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And, of course we went out and ate wings — probably too many wings!

Some notes on our priorities:

National and international chains were looked at with flinty suspicion. But a couple sneaked in anyway, based on simple merit or popularity among the people of Delaware. Hooter's was not among these. B-dubs neither. We did not stop for Wingstop. And America's Best was not considered, for the purposes of this conversation, to be "best."

We are not purists. Neither is the city of Buffalo, we point out. Classic Frank's-and-butter hot wings figure prominently in these brackets. But so do baked wings, rotisserie wings, Parmesan-smothered wings, Korean and Thai and Peruvian wings, and some Southern-fried wingettes. All tasty wings are welcome, until your votes decide their fate.

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But no "boneless wings," which do not exist. Fingers are not wings. Breasts are not wings. Tenders may be delicious, but they are not wings. And they're usually less tender than wings.

Vote for the best wings in Delaware

Without further ado: Wing Madness.

Vote for your favorite wings below, based on the love in your heart. The One Wing will be crowned in April. Miffed that your favorite wing didn't get a shot at the prize? Feel free to fill up my inbox at mkorfhage@delawareonline.com. This won't accomplish anything in particular, but I'll probably go eat the wings. I like wings.

Now, get to voting in the poll below and be sure to share with the fellow wing fans in your life. Voting on the Round of 32 ends Wednesday, March 20, at 9 a.m.

And next week, the Sweet Sixteen.

Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all the things that touch land and money.. A longtime food writer, he also tends to turn up with stories about tacos, oysters and beer. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com.