By Lorenzo Cisneros
After five weeks of getting physically and mentally prepared, the night of May 5 finally came for the 14 Mr. Madison contestants, with the opportunity to prove to the crowd and judges that they were the World’s Strongest Maverick.
“I felt honored to be able to represent this continuing tradition here at Madison,” senior Daniel Patton said.
All contestants were nominated by the teacher of the extra-curricular activity which the contestant participated in. The Mr. Madison contestants were: Justin Ward, Brooks Baxter, William Guzman, Brandon Lorenzana, Wesley De La Rosa, Reagan Reed, Tyler Thames, Richard Shehulski, Connor Hunsaker, Shasa Honse, Nate Finley, Jacques Clement, Daniel Patton, and Sage Zuriga.
After the contestants performed a group dance to “Macho Man,” they were each asked a series of questions, followed by a swag (formal wear) competition and then the first half of the show was closed with a talent competition.
“I personally loved doing my talent,” Hunsaker said. “I got to sing to the most beautiful girl in the world, Lauren Alexander and my best friend Stephen Mears.”
During the intermission, the judges debated what Mavericks would make the first round cut. The judges tallied up all the points each contestant received. The six contestants with the lowest points were cut. The eight who continued were: Thames, Shehulski, Hunsaker, Honse, Finley, Clement, Patton, and Zuriga.
“It was awesome to make it past the first round of eliminations,” Zuriga said. “I did not expect to make it that far.”
Once the second half resumed, the contestants competed in an academic challenge where they had to be the first to press the buzzer and get the correct answer to the question asked by the host, Sierra Campbell.
Afterwards, the guys had to prove that they were, in fact, the strongest Maverick in an athletic competition. They had to go through an obstacle course where they started by doing 20 push-ups, then they had to do jump rope 20 times, followed by spinning a hula-hoop 20 times and then they ended it all by spinning around 10 times and then attempting to shoot a ball into a basket.
Once all of the competitions were done, the judges tallied up all the points from the second half and then combined them with the first half points. The decisions were in.
Second runner up went to Zuriga.
“I was so surprised when they called my name,” Zuriga said. “I was not expecting it at all.”
First runner up was Hunsaker.
“I felt pretty good about it,” Hunsaker said. “I wasn’t being too competitive about it, I just wanted to have fun.”
The first place winner, the guy who was the 2011 Mr. Madison was Daniel Patton.
“Having the title of Mr. Madison and all the memories will last a life time,” Patton said. “I appreciated all the support at the competition.”