The Mr. HHS 2017 competition took place Feb. 14 in the auditorium. Eight boys took to the stage at 7 p.m. to compete to win a free tux rental for prom. The contestants were seniors Nico Tolentino, Justin Padayhag, Cameron Nachreiner, Hunter Kowalski, Nicholas Laughlin, Austin Krause, Dakotah Henn, and junior Luke Loprieno.
“The boys this year were absolutely great,” event sponsor Rebecca Davison said. “We had a great variety of talent and skills, and more importantly, all of the boys took the pageant seriously while still having fun.”
The competition started out the same as it has every year, with the picture collages of each contestant, showcasing baby photos to Prom photos. After the collage slideshow, the boys all joined together on stage and performed a group dance, which was very entertaining.
They then strutted their stuff across the stage for the swim suit competition and answered a question from a wheel of categories. Some fan favorites for the swim suit competition were Nachreiner, having a friend spray water on him from a spray bottle, and Henn throwing beach balls into the crowd.
The boys then dressed up in their best Huntley High School spirit wear and answered the very important question of “Why should you be crowned Mr. HHS?” Some of the contestants gave very serious answers, while others gave comedic answers, looking to please the crowd over the judges.
Next came the talent portion of the competition where the boys chose a skill of theirs to perform in front of everyone. Tolentino performed a dance. Padayhag played the recorder, winning us all over with his version of “My Heart Will Go On,” and then ‘promposing’ to his girlfriend. Nachreiner played an original on his guitar and harmonica with his girlfriend as the lead singer. Kowalski shocked the audience and fit 19 marshmallows in his mouth, 6 over his personal best, in a game called Chubby Bunny. Laughlin spun a basketball on his finger and caught food in his mouth at the same time. Krause sang a song about self-expression. Loprieno played the recorder as well, dedicating “Hot Cross Buns” to his parents. And lastly, Henn did a lip sync to “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”
The formal wear and opinion question came next. Contestants had to randomly select a a question from a bucket to answer. Some questions were “What is the biggest environmental issue today?” and “What is the biggest problem facing teens today?” All contestants gave great answers.
After a long night of waiting, the winners were finally crowned. Padayhag won the People’s Choice Award, Tolentino got runner up, and Krause was crowned Mr. HHS.
“I saw it last year, and I thought wow, this could be really fun, especially with how much I admire this school,” Krause said. “I want to be a figure for it.”