On Saturday, August 23rd, the 2025 Mr. America Global competition took place at the Hilton Washington DC/Rockville Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Rockville, Maryland. #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos has the scoop.
19 talented contestants competed for the Mr. America Global crown. CEO Julio Tatis and Tony Smith served as co-owners and executive producers of Mr. America Global. Tony spoke about how Mr. America Global was the vision of his business partner Julio Tatis, and it’s a reflection of all the hard work that Julio that into this organization.
These unique contestants included Alex Chatchai of District of Columbia, Anni Ankola of California, Rowan Musick of Missouri, Emmyrich Vicente of Maryland, Clayton Maxwell of Indiana, Joel Millspaugh of Illinois, Marquez Vargas of Hawaii, Michael Watkins of Ohio, Mitchell Taurone of Utah, David Borum of Oklahoma, Adam Castaneda of Texas, Isaiah Rodriguez of New York, Manuel Kadja of Pennsylvania, Kristian Bandeira of Massachusetts, Christopher Ash of Florida, Alijah Johnson of New Jersey, Luke Huff of Alabama, Alex Morrissey of Oregon, and Eric Rodriguez of Colorado.
Jacqueline Matter, anchor of “Good Day DC,” co-hosted the event with the 2024 Mr. America Global titleholder Riley Hedstrom. They noted that this event would be “history in the making,” and rightfully so. They added that they were looking for “beautiful, talented, and intelligent” winner that depicts style, strength, character, and heart. The whole mission of Mr. America Global is to “empower ourselves to empower others.”
Hedstrom shared that the sashing ceremony a few days prior was a “powerful and amazing” moment for all.
They shared that the voting system was based on closed-door interviews (30%), swimwear (25%), formal-wear (25%), and 20% social media component/engagement. This pageant featured five accomplished judges in their own right such as Rodolfo Fernandez, Axel Vasquez, Alonso Maximo and 2025 “Miss US International” winner Nicky Kandola.
This year’s top 10 featured the representatives of the states of Alabama, Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, California, Missouri, New York, Maryland, Oklahoma and District of Columbia.
Alex Chatchai was the winner of this year’s online fan vote, who received well over 526,000 votes. This year’s special award recipients included Marquez Vargas for “Top Model,” Emmyrich Vicente for “Influencer,” David Borum for “Fitness/Swimwear,” Alex Morrissey for “Most Photogenic,” Christopher Ash for “Humanitarian,” and Isaiah Rodriguez as “Mr. Congeniality.” Kristian Bandeira was also named the “Mister Cosmos” recipient.
All 19 finalists were able to discuss their feelings and emotions about what this pageant has meant to them, and they all concurred that the friendships and brotherhood that they all developed will last a lifetime.
After a Q&A session, the Top 10 was narrowed down to the Top 5, which included Anni Ankola (4th runner up), Clayton Maxwell (3rd runner up) and David Borum as the 2nd runner up.
The moment of truth came and Alijah Johnson and Rowan Musick were asked to take center stage for the reveal of this year’s Mr. America Global winner and the first runner up, which went to…. (drumroll, please)…. Rowan Musick and Alijah Johnson respectively. The winner goes on to represent the USA in the “Mr. Global” stage in the following year.
On winning the 2025 Mr. American Global crown, Musick expressed, “Oh my God, I am in a total state of shock right now! What a surprise! I am absolutely excited, thrilled, humbled and honored. I will find the right words tomorrow.”
Johnson also expressed his contentment and joy in being named the first runner-up winner.
Congratulations again to Rowan Musick for winning the pageant, as well as to ALL of this year’s 19 finalists for showcasing their gifts in their own unique ways. They all made it a wonderful night to remember for all. Overall, it was a warm, pleasant and heartwarming event, and hopefully, there will be a lot more of these competitions in the future.
To learn more about Mr. America Global, visit its official homepage, and follow its Instagram page.
