By Brian Hernandez
For most pizza makers, Naples is both a pilgrimage and a proving ground. Chris Battiste of MiaAva East Coast Pizza in Pahrump, Nevada, arrived there last week carrying a simple objective. Finish in the top 10 in the 2026 Caputo Cup in the birthplace of pizza.
That goal became reality in mid-June when Battiste took ninth place in the Traditional American division at the event (officially the Campionato Mondiale del Pizzaiuolo), one of the world’s most prestigious pizza competitions. The accomplishment was impressive enough on its own, but it becomes even more remarkable when viewed through the lens of Battiste’s unconventional competition journey. While many competitors spend years climbing the ranks, Battiste’s competitive résumé is surprisingly brief. His first competition appearance came at the International Pizza Challenge in 2016, where he finished 16th in the Neapolitan category. Then he stepped away from competition pizza altogether, not returning until IPC 2025.
Back then, his expectations were considerably different. “I just wanted to compete to see how well my pizza would be received,” Battiste said. “I only wanted to break into the top 20.” What began as curiosity quickly evolved into something more serious. After joining PMQ’s U.S. Pizza Team and watching fellow team members compete overseas, the possibility of competing in Italy no longer seemed so distant.
“No way,” Battiste said when asked if he ever expected to be competing in Naples this early in his competition career. But, he added, “I saw all the team in Parma and Rimini, and the Caputo Cup was coming up…so I said why not?”
Battiste remembers the experience as overwhelming in the best possible way. He described it as “emotional.”
“I can’t believe I’m here doing this at this moment.” The setting only amplified those feelings. Naples is not merely another stop on the competition circuit. It’s the birthplace of pizza, and competitors feel that weight the moment they arrive. “It’s very serious in Naples,” Battiste said. “You feel the history. It feels like the stakes are higher.”
One of the Caputo Cup’s biggest challenges had nothing to do with dough, toppings or execution. It was the oven. In many American competitions, oven settings are handled for competitors. In Naples, Battiste learned the hard way that responsibility ultimately rests with the pizzaiolo. “They ask you what you want it set at, and they set it, but it’s your responsibility to make sure it’s done right,” he said. “I did not know that until I was 4 minutes into my bake in a 500°oven that was supposed to be 600°.”
The temperature issue created a chain reaction. Battiste discovered the prep room was running around 86°, far warmer than he was accustomed to back home. “Since my pizza took 15 minutes to cook and the pepperoni was already room temp before it went into the oven, it over-cooked and all the spices and oils bled out, taking a lot of flavor with them.”
Even with those setbacks, Battiste stayed committed to the approach that brought him to Naples in the first place, crediting “sticking to the plan, using quality ingredients, and being able to overcome hurdles, like the oven.”
When the results were announced, Battiste discovered he had accomplished exactly what he set out to do. “I was very happy,” he said. “I knew going in this will be a harder place to win in, so being in the top 10 for the first time was awesome.” Just as important, the finish validated months of work and preparation. “I told everyone at MiaAva the goal was to get in the top 10. We got there.”
The result carried additional meaning because Battiste wasn’t competing solely for himself. He was representing both MiaAva East Coast Pizza and the U.S. Pizza Team, an organization founded in 2000 by PMQ Pizza Magazine to promote excellence, camaraderie and education through pizza competition.
“I was very proud,” Battiste said. “I could not do this without the solid [MiaAva] team at home. I also want to show out for the USPT.” He credits his fellow members with helping sharpen his competitive focus. “The team makes me more focused. I am a very competitive person. I work better when part of a team, and it helps to be able to bounce ideas of my teammates.”
Battiste was joined in Naples by veteran U.S. Pizza Team member Sean Dempsey of Dempsey’s Brewery Pub & Restaurant in Watertown, South Dakota. A fixture on the competition circuit with numerous championships and accolades to his name, Dempsey once again represented American pizza at the highest level, earning a top-50 finish while supporting his teammate throughout the event.
Somewhere between competitions, international flights and the next adventure, Dempsey remains one of those competitors who always seems to be in motion. If he isn’t standing in front of a pizza oven, there’s a reasonable chance he’s perched on the edge of a volcano sketching a bonsai tree before boarding a plane to his next competition.
For Battiste, Naples provided something more valuable than a trophy. It provided confirmation. “It shows that my first year was not lightning in a bottle, that I’m constantly in the top 10, so I must be doing something right,” he said.
Then again, competitors rarely stay satisfied for long. Asked what he’s aiming for the next time he returns to Naples, Battiste didn’t hesitate. “Top 5, baby!”
Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s associate editor and coordinator of the U.S. Pizza Team.
