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No official score was released Saturday night, but Dromgoole said he was surprised he won.

"We let the time get away from us this time," he said, adding that he expected he'd also get dinged after a hiccup in plating one of his dishes.

O'Leary, executive chef at and only the second woman to compete in the contest's 17 years, embraced her teenage daughter after the competition.

"We did it," she said.

Later, she said she was pleased with her team's performance but was frustrated by comments from the judges reminding her and Dromgoole about the time, saying it was a distraction.

In comments from the judges' table, Chef Maria Mazon, who has competed in the nationally televised Bravo reality show "Top Chef," sounded the alarm 35 minutes into the competition, warning the chefs that they should allow themselves 15 minutes to plate the dishes.

At the 10-minute mark, both chefs had just started plating their four dishes including O'Leary's final one, a sweet and savory fritter topped with a warm honey and andouille sausage compote that earned the judges' praise.

"This is your best dish of the night," gushed Mazon, chef-owner of .

The two other judges were Jan Osipowicz, executive chef of Desert Diamond Casino; and Tucson Foodie Editor Jackie Tran, former chef-owner of Tran's Fats Food Truck.

Dromgoole's andouille hash with sweet potatoes and a slow-roasted pork chop sided with a pour-over broth earned high praise from judge Osipowicz.

"The flavor profile, the broth on the side. It's my favorite dish so far," Osipowicz said.

Dromgoole's win earned him $500, gifts from Arizona Restaurant Supply, an engraved cutting board to display at Obon, radio commercials from Iron Chef Tucson organizer ((MIXfm, KFMA, KLPX and ESPN Tucson) and a Peroni pizza oven. 

O'Leary and Dromgoole's andouille battle played out before a crowd of several hundred at Desert Diamond Casino's Kitchen Stadium and capped a day of cooking demonstrations and sampling.

Guests could nibble their way to a full stomach from the deconstructed tamales, Southwest-themed pierogis with spicy tomatillo sauce and handmade desserts from the casino's chefs to the spicy and creamy Southwest Creole chicken pasta created by chef Gabriel McCarter. 

was serving a chicken dish made with its whiskey to complement samples of its Classic, Dorado, Sentinel Rye and recently released Distiller's Cut whiskeys. A few tables over, Eegee's set out cups of its icy Sonora Sunset flavor of the month.

Dromgoole is the fourth chef to win back-to-back titles. He said he hopes to return next year to try for a threepeat, something that only chef Ryan Clark has achieved. Clark, who emceed Saturday's competition with Charro Steak Executive Chef Gary Hickey, won back-to-back Iron Chef Tucson competitions from 2011-2013.