Milligan freshman John Will Hutcheson was crowned “Mr. Buff” Friday night, April 13, in the Gregory Center. Hutcheson won over five other competitors in front of an audience that filled half of the theatre.

“At first I was surprised, but now I’m really happy,” Hutcheson said a few minutes after being crowned.

Hutcheson’s talent was solving a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute while telling biblical “dad jokes.”

Hutcheson said it took one week to learn how to solve a Rubik’s Cube and that he became faster “as the years went by.” His swim team, including the coach and her husband, came out to support him in the competition.

Freshman John Will Hutcheson, the crowned winner of the 2018 Mr. Buff pageant. Photo by Judith Garza.

Six male contestants competed for the winner’s crown and each performed a talent.

Senior Nick “Joel” Baylor told a story, sophomore Cory Aulich sang a song, freshman Matthew Haagen strummed a guitar, junior Luis De La Torre practiced yoga and junior “Harry” Jared Timmins did magic tricks.

The judges were Kristal Dove, instructor of business administration; Heather Vaccaro, instructor of business administration; and Mary Jackson, research and instruction librarian.

Sophomore Gibson Mills, a political science and humanities double major, and junior Joe Lyttle, a nursing major, emceed for the night.

After the performances, Mills and Lyttle questioned each contestant to determine the character of the potential “Mr. Buff.”

Timmins said it took him three hours to write his script for the competition. He also “vigorously recruited” other students in order to find a volunteer for his talent.

“I have awful, awful stage fright,” Timmins said. “I felt gypped,” he said in describing how he thought he experienced a bigger reaction from the crowd. “I did have a lot of fun, though, and I’m already preparing for next year’s takeover of Mr. Buff.”

Jackson had previously been a Mr. Buff judge.

“I knew what I was getting into,” Jackson said. “I was really impressed with how (Hutcheson) could solve the Rubik’s Cube so fast while still being able to talk. It was awesome.”

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