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HAGERSTOWN -- It's official. Matt Dattilio is Hagerstown's hottest man.
After 1,975 votes were cast Monday night to determine the hottest man during an event at Bulls & Bears restaurant, the Coldwell-Banker Innovation real estate agent came away the winner.
Cheers went up from a crowd of about 140 people as Dattilio walked down a staircase and received good wishes from supporters.
Despite being Hub City's biggest hunk, Dattilio said he figured life will be "pretty normal" from now on.
Was he surprised?
"Yeah, of course," he said.
Dattilio has been married since June and his wife, Tasha, nominated him.
The contest was Hagerstown's answer to the city being named No. 2 in the nation by TotalBeauty.com for cities with the ugliest men. El Paso, Texas, topped the list.
Real estate agent is Hagerstown's hottest man
The ranking was based on criteria like education statistics, sales of contraceptives and erotica, and obesity.
The Herald-Mail decided to strike back, sponsoring Hagerstown's Hottest Man contest, in which people submitted nearly 200 photos of men to www.herald-mail.com.
People were able to enter men in the contest by paying a $5 entry fee, said Liz Thompson, The Herald-Mail's digital director.
People could vote online for their choice of hottest man after registering on The Herald-Mail Web site, Thompson said.
A panel of Herald-Mail judges took the top 25 vote-getters through the online voting and narrowed the field to 10 finalists based on online votes and descriptions of the men on The Herald-Mail Web site, Thompson said.
Patrons at Bulls & Bears could vote Monday for any of the 10 finalists by paying $1 per vote. Individuals could vote more than once, and they did, Thompson said.
"We had checks for more than $100 in some cases," Thompson said.
The $1,975 raised through voting was donated to the Community Free Clinic of Washington County, which also received $400 from proceeds of the online registration fees, Thompson said.
It was a festive atmosphere during the event, with drink specials like a "hot-pants" martini.
Two of the finalists were not able to attend the event.
The contestants were announced by Heather Guessford, advertising sales manager for The Herald-Mail.
Shouts of "Hoo, Hoo, Hoo!" went up from the crowd as Guessford announced the first contestant, Ryan Heavner.
"And he's single," Guessford said.
Guessford was reading biographical information for contestant Ryan Flurie, but left out the sports he enjoys.
"We'll just say he's athletic, ladies," Guessford said.
People, especially women, seemed to be having fun.
Darlene Shannon, however, suggested more older men next time.
"They're younger than our sons," Shannon said of the contestants.
