Wed Nov 2, 5:35 PM CT

AUSTIN (Reuters) - In a shocking announcement earlier today, it was revealed that Roice Nelson used a pumpkin carving kit to defend his title in the sort-of-annual contest between him and his fiancé.  Reaction was mixed on Washington, but the market reacted clearly as U.S. stocks plummeted a record 20%, pushing all three main benchmark indexes to five year lows.

Some of his fans couldn't believe it. A traumatized bystander cried, "You know, you don't expect this sort of behavior from pumpkin carving champions.  Halloween will never be the same!".  Others weren't surprised, one observing, "That castle was real good, a little toooo good if you ask me."

His challenger Sarah Nemec was unavailable for comment at the time of this article (she's at work), but through all the uproar, there seems to be one clear consensus.  Roice and Sarah apparently have too much free time.

In response to pressures from disgruntled fans, Roice said in a statement, "In epic battles like these, you can never prepare enough.  To silence the nay sayers, I have already begun aggressive brainstorming sessions for next years contest, or 2007s contest if we bum out again like we did last year.  Even my initial plans are deep and interconnected, artistic and meaningful.  I will show once and for all that winning was no fluke related to being too lazy to come up with an original idea. My fans won't be disappointed."

To back his claims, he released this picture with his statement.