With a theme of “Welcome To The Jungle” for the 2025 Mr. Cougar Pageant, the last one standing was Carson Medina, selected for the honor out of 15 Escalon High School seniors taking part in the Friday, March 7 event in the school’s Performing Arts Center.

It was an enthusiastic crowd that turned out for the show, sponsored for the third year by the First Responder Leadership Team.

Offering the welcome and introduction were Katherine Romero and Karisa McNeil; Romero is President of the EHS First Responders Program and McNeil is the EMT Vice President of the program.

“We are so excited that you could all join us this evening,” McNeil told the crowd. “The proceeds for this event will go towards a First Responders Scholarship Fund for seniors at Escalon High as they prepare for career and college after graduation.”

Romero and McNeil then introduced the judges for the evening: guest judges were teacher and coach Brandon Hoover, EHS office manager Liz Nunes, campus monitor Mike Berezay and school board member Kate Powell. Emcees for the evening kept the program moving smoothly from act to act.

Contestants were Daniel Adams, Cody Brown, Ian Burk, Josue Ruiz, Joseph Dutra, Lucas Estep, Joshua Fiori, David Ingles, Alex Jones, Maximus Velasco, Carson Medina, Nate Millard, Ryan Murphy, Wesley Radford and John Konradi.

Categories for the pageant were King of the Jungle, with contestants modeling jungle wear; the Wild Wear Dance Battle, showcasing some of their best dance moves; the Safari Saddle Showdown with a cowboy-themed outfit challenge; the Survivor Talent Show and Jumanji Royalty, with semi-formal attire.

To start off the show, each contestant was introduced and a little information provided about them; friends and family members in the audience were quick to applaud, hoot and holler for their favorites.

The talent show portion of the evening featured acts ranging from musical performances to a timed event for correctly putting on firefighting turnout gear; along with an arm-wrestling challenge and an escape artist.

While contestants made their wardrobe changes and got ready for the next portion of the program, specialty entertainment acts took the stage, including singers and dancers, to keep the crowd in their seats and enjoying the show.

By the evening’s end, a total of five awards were presented. Judges tabulated the scores in four of the categories: Mr. Cougar, Mr. Style Icon, Mr. Picture Perfect and Mr. Congeniality. Attendees were able to scan a code and register their votes for the fifth award, People’s Choice.

Winners were Lucas Estep, People’s Choice; Wesley Radford, Mr. Style Icon; Maximus Velasco, Mr. Picture Perfect; John Konradi, Mr. Congeniality; and Carson Medina, Mr. Cougar.

“I emceed last year and I saw how amazing it was and all the fun the contestants had so it just kind of made me want to get involved, plus it’s for the (First Responders) program so I just wanted to help out,” said People’s Choice recipient Estep.

For Mr. Style Icon Radford, it took a little encouragement from others for him to step on the stage.

“I wanted to do it but I definitely got convinced,” Radford said, noting that fellow contestant John Konradi was the major force in getting him to participate. “I just loved being out there and making the people laugh, showing my talent (playing the piano) that I don’t show to people often.”

Mr. Picture Perfect Velasco enjoyed the experience as well.

“My favorite part about tonight was just being able to come out here and have fun with all my classmates and everything, it was a good time,” Velasco said, adding that taking part was also good for his self-confidence, showcasing some singing talent for the crowd.

Konradi was pleased with his selection as Mr. Congeniality and was glad he took part in the pageant.

“I was expecting everything to be a little more stressful but once you’re on stage you know, you don’t feel it,” Konradi said. “The most stressful part is definitely getting dressed, though, you don’t have much time back there (in between stage appearances).”

Konradi had perhaps the most unexpected talent display, submerging himself in a barrel of water while shackled, having to be an escape artist and get out of the restraints before emerging from the water.

“I just figured it was unique; it was different from what other people were doing,” he said, adding that he has been lock picking for several years. “I really like that I was able to showcase some decent abilities out there.”

For his part, newly crowned Mr. Cougar Carson Medina admitted that he was both surprised and pleased when his name was announced as the winner.

“It’s pretty awesome; I didn’t really expect it, I just kind of came in with full confidence and just said if I don’t win, I don’t win, let’s just make it fun and I made it fun,” Medina said. “Knew my dance wasn’t very serious but it was funny and my whole goal was to make the crowd laugh and I think it worked.”

He said the preparation and practices were hard, but worth the effort for he and his fellow contestants, especially since the proceeds benefit the First Responders scholarship program.

“I think we all dialed it in last second, we knew what we were doing and, other than the nerves, it was all a breeze,” Medina said. “I think we all did a fantastic job and a lot of people could have gotten this award.”