Senior Matt Haley nudged out his eight rivals to walk away from Campo’s famed Mr. GQ competition with a narrow victory and fifty dollars donated to the Campo jazz band, the club he represented.
The competition was a close one, with Haley pulling out just ahead of runner-up, fellow senior Ben Thomas. “I just did it for fun,” Haley said. “I was actually really surprised. All the other acts were really good. I honestly didn’t think I would win.”
Haley rocked the competition with a spectacular guitar composition that left the audience, and the judges, in awe. Haley modestly insisted that it was nothing special, saying, “I just kind of noodled around and came up with it, it wasn’t really special.” The judges disagreed.
No one was surprised. “I really think Matt was deserving of winning. He had a really incredible performance,” senior Will Leonard said. His sentiment was echoed by the program’s hosting duo, Ethan and Every Stevenson. “Matt is flawless. He deserved to win,” they agreed.
But Haley’s victory was not just handed to him; he had to earn it over the course of three competitions. The three components of the overall score included the introduction, the talent competition, and the formal competition.
First, in the introductory portion, each contestant literally strutted while attired in clothing representative of his chosen school organization.
Second, in the talent portion, in each contender put on a short performance. This year, each and every one of the competitors’ acts involved some form of singing or playing of an instrument.
Third, in the formal competition, each potential Mr. GQ dressed to impress and answered a question posed to them by the twin hosts. These questions covered everything from ”what is your perfect day?” to trivia for mythical creatures and Griffin Piatt.
Although there could only be one Mr. GQ, each of the competitors insisted that winning was secondary and that just having the experience made it all worthwhile.
Junior Nathaniel Miller remembered, “All the contestants were really cool, really nice guys, and leadership was really cool about it and let us have a lot of fun.” Miller also remarked that he felt accomplished for keeping the audience entertained. “That’s what I wanted to achieve so as long as everyone else was happy, I’m happy.”
Leonard seconded Miller’s view. “I just went out there and kind of went with it, and I think it went well so I’m happy with how it went,” Leonard said. “I was out there with a lot of talented other gentlemen, I was just glad I had the opportunity to go out there.”
Nor does runner-up Thomas have any hard feelings towards Haley. “I was runner up so I was ok with that and I was really happy for Matt. It was fun,“ he insisted. “I had a very good experience and I’d say we did better than I thought we would.”
As for next year’s performance, the audience can look forward to seeing two faces returning to GQ; juniors Nathaniel Miller and Luther Kuefner. The two hope their experience will give them an edge.
“I definitely think I’ll do it again,” Miller said. “Because I’m a junior, I didn’t really expect to win this year. But maybe next year I can have more competitive air and snag the title.”
