2:14 PM PT -- Wehry is maintaining his innocence ... but is now asking MLE to adjust his score back to 46.75 dogs over the fact he touched an opponent's plates, which "gives the appearance or possibility of impropriety," he told the Post.

Competitive eater Nick Wehry -- husband of women's champ Miki Sudo -- is facing bombshell allegations stemming from this year's hot dog contest ... being accused of cheating to increase his end result.

This year's fourth-place finisher was initially handed a score of 46.75 tube steaks eaten at Thursday's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island ... but after a recount, his total was changed to 51.75.

As we previously reported, Patrick Bertoletti won the Joey Chestnut-less outing after downing 58 weenies.

The competition calculates final scores based on the number of clean plates in each contestant's area after the 10-minute event -- each empty plate equals five glizzys, and any scraps are left up to the judges.

The New York Post -- citing two anonymous sources -- claims at some point following the end of the contest, Wehry wandered around the stage and snagged an opponent's empty plate ... then put it in his own pile.

The outlet also states Wehry then demanded a recount ... which then brought his tally up to surpass the 50-dog mark, a highly-coveted tier in the sport.

Wehry adamantly denied the allegations ... saying he "stole nothing" and did not call for a do-over on the count.

Major League Eating -- the contest's governing body -- released a statement to TMZ Sports ... saying it conducted an investigation and reviewed video footage after being made aware of the claims.

"Like many other professional sports leagues, it is our policy to not overturn judges' decisions after the final results have been recorded," MLE said ... so it's unclear if the probe found Wehry responsible for any wrongdoing.

As for the eater, he said he'd accept MLE's decision to change his result if it found he did anything wrong ... adding he wouldn't want to be handed a number he didn't earn.