El Toro Crowns Its Mr. Charger After a Contest of Talent, Wits and Beach Wear

It’s official: Adam Bragg is the dreamiest senior boy at El Toro High School.

And now he has the parking spot to prove it.

That was the verdict Friday night at the second annual Mr. Charger pageant, a hormonally charged extravaganza in which 12 senior boys competed for judges’ votes and the crowd’s affections as they modeled swimwear and tuxedos, shared their unique talents and answered questions.

Girls in the audience yelled, “You’re sexy!” and “Take your shirt off!” as Bragg came onstage to show off his talent: performing the dance by the title character from the movie Napoleon Dynamite.

Later, during the question-and-answer portion, Bragg told the audience that if he could forever eliminate one type of prejudice from the earth, it would be prejudice based on race and ethnicity.

“If everyone realizes we’re more alike and equal, the world would be a much better place,” he said.

Last year’s Mr. Charger, Collin Andrews, returned to crown Bragg the winner. Afterward, Bragg—a pole vaulter who will attend Princeton next fall—clutched a bouquet of flowers and smiled for photographs, wearing the horn-adorned crown and a sash. When Bragg returns to school Monday, he will have his own “Mr. Charger” parking spot in front of the school.

“I feel so many emotions,” Bragg said. “I’m excited and happy. I’m thankful for the parking space, and knowing I represent El Toro.”

The Mr. Charger pageant, or “man-geant” as teacher Joel Rubin quipped beforehand, was a fundraiser for the World Languages department. Tickets for the event cost $8 to $10, and the event sold out within two days of tickets becoming available. Rubin said the event raised about $2,000 to offset budget cuts to the department.

The crowd was largely made up of female students along with family members of the contestants, making for a festive atmosphere. In the opening number, choreographed by students Wendy Acquazzino, McKenna Bagley, Maggie Fallardo and Rayna Leland, contestants shimmied to songs including “It’s Raining Men” and “I’m Too Sexy,” doing push-ups to the music and ripping off their tank tops on cue.

The talent portion ranged from the silly (Evan Nelson singing a German song while dancing around in lederhosen) to the impressive (Landon Alvarado playing 10 different musical instruments for a rendition of Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah”).

Trevor Domenech, a water polo player, showed off the “Edgy Art of Towel Changing,” an idea he said came from his mom. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he changed from sweatpants into board shorts while delivering corny pick-up lines like, “I could rearrange the alphabet to put you and I together.”

Drama students Andrew Guzman and Derek Hedbany drew huge cheers for their combined talent act, which repurposed Abbott and Costello’s famous “Who’s on First” comedy routine. Jonathan Stone got big laughs for serenading a tiger in his rendition of “Stu’s Song” from the movie The Hangover.

Props featured prominently in the beach attire portion of the pageant, with contestants using items like snorkels, a sombrero, an Old Spice bottle and a giant inflated shark to help model their looks. Kyle Smith got laughs when he smeared white sunblock all over his chest, while Adam Bragg donned a wetsuit and poured a bottle of water on himself.

“I was very relieved he wore the wetsuit instead of a Speedo,” his mother, Sherry Bragg, said after the event.

The pageant was peppered with campy, romantic trivia about the boys, doled out by emcees Nicolas Pedreira and Brooke Farrenkopf. Among them? Trevor Domenech “likes helping baby turtles back to the sea,” and Jason Alvarez “loves the feeling of sand between his toes while listening to the ocean.”

In the end, the panel of four judges picked Kyle Smith and Andrew Guzman as  second-place runners-up and chose Derek Hedbany as first-place runner up. As Bragg was named the evening’s champion, organizers shot off confetti and streamers.

After the event, senior Allison Walker cheered up her friend Hedbany, who ended up so close—and yet so far—from the coveted “Mr. Charger” title.

“The parking spot was what I wanted,” Hedbany lamented.

“You have the best parking spot in my heart,” Walker replied.

Be sure to check our photo slideshow of the fun.