Melissa Manno
Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
Hundreds sought the coveted title, climbing toward the crown with their cascading locks blowing in the wind. But only one man — or mullet — emerged victorious.
Scott Salvadore of Stillwater has officially been crowned the 2022 USA Mullet Champion after ascending in the leaderboards with his golden mane dubbed “The Lord’s Drapes.”
Salvadore, 34, was announced as the first-place champion Saturday morning on the Today Show and was not only prized the glorious “America’s Best Mullet” title by founder Kevin Begola but also received the Mullet Mega Money Pot of $2,500.
The show’s hosts asked Salvadore about the history of his hairdo, which he cut off once for his girlfriend then grew it back out after they got married.
“When I cut that first mullet off it was such a part of my identity I felt like a part of me died,” he said.
Salvadore and his roughly four-year-old business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back hairstyle garnered 3,740 votes in the competition that was determined by a public poll. Dalton Cleghorn of Toledo, Ohio came in second with 3,208 votes and Brandon Hernandez of Buds, Texas took third place with 2,855.
When voting ended last Tuesday for the annual contest, Salvadore had taken the lead over his 600 competitors, beating out a myriad of men sporting mullets with titles like “Whistlin Kitty Chaser.”
The competition, chock full of triumphant tresses, is a signal to some that the hairstyle, which reached peak popularity in the 1980s before dying out, might be making a comeback.
“You don’t choose the mullet. The mullet chooses you,” Salvadore told the Times Union last week.
Best of 2022 winners
—
Best Arts & Entertainment
—
Best Dining
—
Best Goods & Services
—
Best of the Rest
Winners of the kids and teens divisions have already been announced on the competition’s website. A recent NPR article said the competition, which was founded in Michigan in 2020, claims half of its entry fees are donated to Stop Soldier Suicide, a nonprofit that supports veterans in need.
In an interview with the Times Union last week, Salvadore said he was 96 percent confident he would win the competition that his wife entered him in to console him after being rejected from an Indiana mullet contest.
Now, as a winner of the “Mane Event,” the Saratoga County man and his champion coiffure have officially made hairstyle history.
“Mullets are a lot like Jet Skis,” Salvadore shared, quoting HBO’s Eastbound & Down Kenny Powers. “I’ve never seen a sad person on a Jet Ski.”
___
(c)2022 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)
Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at www.timesunion.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.