Billed as ‘A Night in Monte Carlo’ and featuring lots of high stakes action, the fourth annual Mr. Cougar Pageant took to the stage in the Escalon High School Performing Arts Center on Friday evening, March 27.

The program is a production of the EHS First Responders, serving as a fundraiser for the organization.

Contestants in the running for the title this year were, in alphabetical order: Andrew Armosino, Luca Cerasi, Chase Cummings, Christopher Diaz, Ben Ferreira, Mason Haverkamp, Logan Huebner, Rylan Koops, Co Northcutt, Aydun Melo, Otto Perreira, Zach Wells and Logan Wentzell.

It was a big crowd that settled in to the auditorium seats for the show, with a welcome and introductions offered by Carolina Torres-Ochoa, President of the EHS First Responders Program and Jaqueline Aguayo, also of the First Responders.

All 13 contestants were introduced and had a chance to model their outfit of choice, with a little bit of biographical information offered about them.

Providing some entertainment in between the events for the contestants were singers Madelyn Fahey and Brianne Coelho, along with the EHS High Rollers dance team.

Serving as judges for the evening were EHS teachers John Yonke and Mallory Brenner, EUSD board member Martha Coelho and EHS alum, Marine Sgt. Rafael Felix.

Along with their casual wear, contestants were put through the paces by having to demonstrate a talent, model their best cowboy gear and beach wear, and take the stage in semi-formal attire while answering impromptu questions. Emcees also kept the festivities moving along smoothly.

From the mini marshmallow catching expertise of Ben Ferreira to the unique painting style of Logan Huebner, there were a variety of talents on display and the contestants – especially singers Luca Cerasi and Aydun Melo – enjoyed going out into the audience for some interaction, while Chase Cummings directed his crooning directly at the judging panel.

Rylan Koops enlisted the help of teacher/judge Mallory Brenner to assist him on stage with his talent – a science experiment – that featured liquid nitrogen and an impressive blast of smoke at the end.

Helping coordinate the program, and leading the First Responders program at EHS, were teachers Su and Seth Davis.

By the end of the evening, after plenty of cheering for favorites and laughter over the antics displayed, there were five awards presented.

Andrew Armosino received the Mr. Fan Favorite award, as voted on by those attending the show; with Mr. Style Icon honors going to Co Northcutt, who seemingly had more costume changes by himself than all his fellow contestants combined. Earning the Mr. Picture Perfect honor was Mason Haverkamp and Logan Wentzell took home the honor of Mr. Congeniality.

The 2026 Mr. Cougar title went to Rylan Koops, who couldn’t have been happier with the event overall and the ultimate outcome.

“Honestly it was all on a whim, I had seen this the year before and I was like, ‘this is so fun, it’s going to be one of the greatest memories of the year with all my friends’ so I just took that initiative and went out there … kind of scrambled through the whole performance and everything, it was chaotic but it was just a great time and I hope all the families enjoyed it.”

Koops also had nothing but respect for those that took the stage with him.

“A lot of great guys up here tonight, all hopefully going to have prosperous futures for sure and as I look around at the group of seniors this year, I’m just honestly honored to be a part of this Class of ‘26, amazing, amazing people and the guys tonight were especially just wonderful in their performances.”

Mr. Style Icon, Co Northcutt, agreed with the assessment of Koops regarding the great memories made along the way during the evening.

“This is going to be one of my funnest memories for sure, I had so much fun tonight; it was just amazing being with all the guys in a big group for maybe the last time,” Northcutt said. “It is what could be described as the most eventful, iconic thing Escalon puts on for us seniors and I had so much fun going into this from the start.”

As Mr. Picture Perfect, Mason Haverkamp kept his winning smile going throughout the competition, whether he was dressed in his cowboy gear or power lifting for his talent.

“I saw the crowd and I just had to show out, I’m a people pleaser,” he said of giving it his all, adding that there was a lot that went into preparing for the pageant. “It was a mixture of crazy, goofy and really fun; I enjoyed it a lot.”

Suiting up for the event and putting his best foot forward, Logan Wentzell was honored to have been selected as Mr. Congeniality and was glad to be a pageant contestant this year.

“I wanted to take part in it because our community is just such an awesome atmosphere, I love doing everything for the people and seeing all the amazing faces out here today,” Wentzell said, with a nod of thanks to the crowd. “And practicing with my buddies every single day was just an absolutely phenomenal way of spending my day.”

He put the experience in the top five he has had at Escalon High, possibly even as high as number three on his list.

“I will always remember this, I will always love this experience,” he said.

Andrew Armosino resonated with the crowd for his efforts in the show, taking home the Mr. Fan Favorite honor.

“We all actually had a great time, it was fun,” Armosino said of being able to take the stage in front of a supportive crowd. “This is definitely at the top (of EHS memories); it was a great time and I was really happy to spend it with all the people here.”

Serving as a judge was school board member Martha Coelho, who marveled at the variety of talents displayed and the stage presence of the contestants.

“It was great, it was a fun night,” Coelho said. “I find it so awesome that they all came together to do this. This was my first year being a judge … it was a lot of pressure but I would do it all over again and it’s so worth it for these kids and what they’re doing, it’s amazing.”

Co-coordinator Su Davis said the success of the event has been building each year, with the fourth annual Mr. Cougar Pageant perhaps being the largest to date.

“I know for the Leadership students, they get an opportunity to do some event planning, they get to be leaders, they get to collaborate and they get to tap into some creativity,” Davis explained. “I know for the boys, it’s camaraderie, most all of the contestants are all seniors and this really is like their last hurrah together; you know they’ve played sports together, a lot of these students have grown up with each other since Dent Elementary … I think that’s what makes it so engaging, the students have fun and it’s very unique. Unique not just to Escalon but to the whole area; there’s no other high school that does something like this.”