Bartlett student wins $100,000 with TV football throw

Alec Cannata got ready to throw the football Saturday with more than 60,000 sets of eyes trained on him in Lucas Oil Stadium, and even more watching on TV at home.

He was in the middle of the Big Ten Championship, but he wasn't playing for either team.

Instead, Cannata, a 2013 graduate of Bartlett High School, was part of a contest sponsored by Dr Pepper to throw the most footballs into an oversized Dr Pepper-shaped can in 30 seconds.

"I was pretty nervous," Cannata said Tuesday. "I was shaking at the knees." Despite the nerves, Cannata tossed 11 balls into the can and walked away a big winner with a $100,000 scholarship to put toward his tuition.

Cannata is a junior at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point majoring in wildland fire science.

"I would love to fight wildfires out west," he said. "I've always really liked the outdoors. I've always wanted to do something to protect nature." Cannata entered the contest online and had to get a number of votes to make it to the next round. Then he had to submit a video to talk about his career goals and his love for Dr Pepper.

The company called him just before Thanksgiving to tell him he was a finalist and flew him to Indianapolis last weekend for the contest.

He competed against three other college students backstage before making it to the final competition during halftime of the championship game between Michigan State and Iowa.

"It was pretty incredible," Cannata said. "I'm going to take it as a blessing and continue down the path I want to pursue. I'll be able to start my career with a fresh start after college because this will take care of my debt and allow me to work wherever I want." Another suburban student, Kotryna Staputyte of Naperville, won the Dr Pepper Tuition Giveaway during halftime of the Pac-12 game in California on Saturday night.