Minnesota Man Breaks World Record for Largest Gourd

A Minnesota man's special pumpkin will have you saying, “Oh my gourd.” 

Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota, set a world record on Monday for the heaviest pumpkin, according to multiple media outlets, including the Associated Press and ABC affiliate KSTP-TV.

The 2,749-pound jack-o’-lantern gourd took first place in the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. The previous record was 2,702 pounds, set in 2021.

A representative for Guinness World Records did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Gienger, a 43-year-old horticulture teacher, told KSTP that he named the pumpkin "Michael Jordan" because "it’s the year [20]23… and he’s the greatest basketball player of all time.”

He added, “It started out basketball round, and I said this is going to be a perfectly round basketball-shaped pumpkin.”

This was not Gienger's first brush with setting records. Last year, he broke the record for the largest jack-o’-lantern by circumference, measuring 509 inches, per the Guinness World Records website. 

Gienger, who has been growing pumpkins since he was a teenager, said that for this year, he decided to take extra good care of his pumpkins by watering them up to 12 times daily and giving them more fertilizer, per the AP. 

The weigh-off winner took home $30,000 for his first-place finish, double what he spent on caring for the gourd, according to Bay City News. 

“I was not expecting that. It was quite the feeling,” Gienger told the AP about his record-breaking pumpkin, which will stay on display in Half Moon Bay along with the runners-up through next weekend. “I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people’s faces and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town.”

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While only one person can win first prize, others, like runner-up Nick Kennedy, are just happy to be involved.

“It has to be a labor of love,” Kennedy told ABC affiliate KGO-TV. “Watching these things grow – this thing grew 66 pounds a day at its peak so it’s like watching a balloon blow up in front of you, basically.”

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