Senior Lucas Johnson won the fourth annual Mr. Wildcat pageant on March 7. This was Johnson’s last year in Mr. Wildcat, and after receiving second runner-up last year, he was incredibly ecstatic he was able to claim the title.

“It’s pretty wild,” Johnson said. “It’s a really great experience since I got second runner-up last year, [which was] not disappointing because it was super fun, but it’s super great to have this feeling.”

Johnson’s fellow Mr. Wildcat contestants were very supportive of his victory and claimed it was well earned as well as expected.

“We all knew it was probably going to be Lucas,” said sophomore contestant Daniel Smith.

Johnson was most excited for the talent portion of the show. His act included smashing open a watermelon and eating it on stage while telling jokes.

“I was super nervous for the talent portion, but I thought that was going to be the most fun because I wanted to get super into the watermelon thing,” Johnson said. “I was hoping people would laugh a lot.”

After contestants of Mr. Wildcat move to the top five, they are asked questions about themselves with no previous knowledge of what they will be asked. Johnson claimed this to be the most difficult part of the show.

“The questionnaire is always super hard because you never really know what it’s going to be. It’s just kind of preparing possible things in your head to say,” Johnson said.

When Johnson’s name was announced as Mr. Wildcat, he received immediate cheer from the crowd and everyone around him.

“It was absolutely wild, everyone started surrounding me and hugging me and stuff and it was just great. There were so many great people.” Johnson said.

The purpose of the Mr. Wildcat show is to raise money for charity. This year’s proceeds will be donated to the Salvation Army Children’s Center and Happy Birthday Inc. Johnson believes Mr. Wildcat to be a great way to bring people together to do great things.

“It brings it together super well since it’s for a great cause every year,” Johnson said. “it’s just great to see everybody coming out; we sold out and it just shows that everyone cares about doing something for the greater good.”