Pittsburgh pizzaiolos bring home titles from International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas

The staff at Caliente Pizza and Draft House are serious about their pizza.

But not so serious that one of them can’t work up an entertaining routine blending acrobatics and pizza-dough stretching.

It might sound like a way to pass the time during a slow business night, but in fact, it earned Matt Hickey a first-place finish in “Pizza Acrobatics” at the International Pizza Expo, held in late March in Las Vegas.

“It’s pizza dough tricks, coordinated to music,” said Hickey, 37, of West Mifflin. “I get to pick my own song and come up with a routine and props. You get five minutes and there’s basically no rules.”

Hickey is no stranger to the winners’ circle at the annual expo — last year he finished second in “Pizza Acrobatics,” while bringing home a first-place win in the “Largest Dough” stretching competition.

This year, he chose the theme song from the “Deal or No Deal” game show as his music, and even worked with a local dance instructor.

“She helped me coordinate the tricks and time them with the music,” Hickey said.

Bogacz took first place in the “Pizza Triathlon” competition, where entrants must fold a box and then stretch two pizza doughs as quickly as possible. He finished second in the category last year.

“I’ve gotten second the last two years,” he said. “It’s been a pretty cool experience.”

Bogacz’s father, Nick, owns Caliente and its eight locations across the Pittsburgh region, and Bogacz has been around the business his whole life.

“Before Caliente, my dad owned a Papa John’s and I’d always go in for ‘Bring Your Kid to Work Day,’” he said.

Bogacz said a group of more than a dozen Caliente employees attended the Vegas conference.

“We wore matching track suits and called ourselves the Wolf Pack,” he said with a laugh. “It’s a lot of fun, and you get to meet the whole pizza community, and also other people from the Pittsburgh area, which I think was represented well.”

The staff at Slice on Broadway, which has six locations in the Pittsburgh area, would agree. They brought home the expo’s title for the world’s best slice of cheese pizza.

And while not everyone who went took a top spot, Bogacz said they all excelled.

“Everyone placed pretty high, even if they didn’t all win their respective competitions,” he said.