By NELSON MORAIS

Staff Writer

Country music heartthrob Chuck Wicks wooed his way into the hearts of many young women in a well-attended concert Tuesday night at the Greene County Fair.

Earlier in the evening, hundreds of spectators at the Jim Saulsbury Arena watched and listened while drivers of ATV and souped-up lawn mowers roared their engines as they competed in ATV and lawn mower pulls.

A fair spokesman said the Tuesday night attendance totaled 3,682, down considerably from 4,874 reported on the same day of the week last year.

RCA recording artist Wicks performed his single "Stealing Cinderella" that went to the top five on the charts within the last year, part of an energetic performance on the main stage that was attended by more than 650 people.

About 60 women, including many shrieking teenagers, rushed the edge of the stage in front as soon as Wicks, with his Hollywood good looks, appeared on stage wearing a snug-fitting white T-shirt and black jeans.

The group of women -- and a handful of men -- continued to press in to the stage during Wicks' 75-minute concert. He played the guitar and was backed up by five musicians.

"How many single women or girls do we have here?" asked Wicks of the crowd of adoring fans in front of him. Several shrieked and raised their arms in response.

During his performance, Wicks often stooped over to shake outstretched hands of the women standing at the stage.

"Are we having a good time so far?" he asked of the audience half way into his set.

One woman standing at the stage held a hand-made sign that read, "Chuck, tonight you're mine, all mine." The back of it read, "Will you marry me?"

Wicks toured with Brad Paisley for one year, and a new single of his released one month ago, "All I Ever Wanted," has climbed to the Top 20, according to the singer/songwriter.

Autographed copies of his new album, "Starting Now," were on sale Tuesday night, as were T-shirts with his image on them.

ATV, Mower Competition

At the Saulsbury Arena, the action started half an hour later than scheduled because of last-minute registrations, organizer Ryan Holt said.

The ATV-pull winners were: first place, Chad Seaton; second place, Travis Crum; and third place, Bryan Jones.

There were four lawnmower-pull competitions.

In the Pro-altered 1050 weight single pull, first place was won by Nick Combs; second place, by Anthony Knight; and third place, by Eric Price.

In the Pro-altered 1050 weight twin pull, the winners were: first place, Rodney Norton, second, Jim Bowman; and third, Matt Turner.

In the Mini-mod 1350 weight pull, first place went to Brandon Turner and second place to Roger Esteal.

In the Mini-mod 1450 weight class, first place went to Woody Sanford, and second place to Vick Lamb.

Greeneville Sun Winners

Tuesday's prize winners at The Greeneville Sun booth at the Greene County Fair were: Diana Malone, Angela Isham, Brenda Sexton, Mark Painter, Jimmy Hughes, Carl Solomon, Charles Smelcer, Brenda Bentley, Kim Foshie, Billy McCamey, Lola Murdock, Hannan Laws, Charles Ragsdale, Paul Wilkerson, Gene Erwin, Shelby Prentice, Shannon Wallin, Elaine Dunaway and Kelly White.

Today At The Fair

Today's highlights begin with the Wool and Woolies Revue at 12:30 p.m.

Championship wrestling is scheduled at 7 p.m. in the Jim Saulsbury Arena, the "Little Miss" and "Junior Miss Fairest" of the fair competitions are at 6:30 p.m. at the main stage, and the Mobil Beat Game Show will be at the GreenBank Pavilion, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

All carnival rides on Wednesday will be $1 each.

Gates open at 4 p.m. and close at 11 p.m.

Admission is $7 for adults, $2 for children ages 6-11 and free for children ages 5 and under with a paying adult.

For full coverage of the Greene County Fair, visit www.greenevillesun.com