The sixth annual Mr. CALS competition was held Monday night, where men from 13 agricultural clubs on campus went head-to-head to earn the title of “Mr. CALS.”

Mr. CALS is a men’s beauty pageant planned and held by Sigma Alpha at the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center. This philanthropy event raises money for a special charity every year, this year being for Food at First in Ames.

The men competed in four categories including formal wear, agricultural olympics, line dancing and industry-based questions.

The night started off with the formal category, where the men were escorted out by members of Sigma Alpha. Each contestant was individually introduced and strutted down the stage in their best evening dress.

Next came a fan favorite, the ag olympics. The contestants went through an obstacle course, which included searching for a bolt in a bucket of grain, then smashing an unknown hardboiled or normal egg on their head.

If it was a normal egg, the contestant had to spin their head around a golf club 10 times in a row. In the last station, the men searched a haystack for a small object.

The olympics were done in three rounds. First place went to Justin Utt, Collegiate Cattleman’s representative, second was Harrison Furlow, Dairy Science Club representative and third was Warren Jennings, Ag Systems Technology Club representative.

The next category was line dancing. The boys prepared and choreographed dances to “Any Man of Mine” where they showed off their best moves to the crowd, both as a group and individually.

Lastly, representatives ran around the audience with buckets asking for monetary donations that acted as votes. Furlow raised the most money and votes.

After these categories were complete, the top five contestants were announced. Finalists included Justin Utt, Harrison Furlow, Matt Stenzel from AMMO, Matt Jones, Agricultural Education Club and John Eden, Beginning Farmers Network.

The finalists moved to the final event of agriculture industry questions.

Finalists drew questions from a bowl and had to answer on the spot. Questions ranged from, “How would you describe agriculture to someone who was unfamiliar with it?”, to “With the current trade disputes and low commodity prices, what do you think is the key for producers to get through these tough times?”

Nearing the end of the night, it was announced that over $1,900 was raised for Food At First in Ames.

Ultimately, Matt Stenzel, AMMO representative, received the title of Mr. Congeniality and first runner-up went to Justin Utt.

The crowd cheered as Harrison Furlow, Dairy Science Club representative, was named the 2018 Mr. CALS and received a giant gold medal.

Cole Spain, agriculture education major, said his favorite part of the night was the question regarding the agriculture industry.

“It shows the contestants knowledge about the ag industry and thats what this is really about, how we can represent agriculture as a whole here at Iowa State,” Spain said.