Evan Noorani has won the title of ‘Best Beard’ in the KREM newsroom!
Evan blew the competition out of the water, winning with 48 percent of the more than 17,000 votes.
KREM's male on-air talent participated in No Shave November. They didn't shave their faces for the month of November to raise money to fight prostate cancer.
He will now have a $1,000 check in his name presented to the Community Cancer Fund, earmarked for prostate cancer research.
The check was presented at Indy's Barber Shop Friday afternoon The competitors enjoy a straight-edge shave. You can watch it back on Facebook Live.
Evan released a statement Friday afternoon saying,
“I began this journey as the underdog – the dark horse – of this competition, and today I emerged victorious. I want to thank everyone who voted for me. It was a tough race and I was up against some stiff competition with the fellow men, who all grew incredible beards. In the end, the real winner of this is the Community Cancer Fund, who is doing incredible work for cancer patients in our community on a daily basis. It was a fun way to bring awareness and raise money for a great cause.”
Evan took on Mark Hanrahan, Taylor Viydo, Tom Sherry and Casey Decker in the unshaven showdown.
Early polling showed KREM viewers may have underestimated Evan. KREM ran a poll on Nov. 2 asking viewers who they thought would grow the best beard.
In the poll viewers said Mark would do the best with 33 percent of the vote. Tom, Evan Taylor then Casey rounded out the top five.
By noon Friday, Mark took second place with 26 percent of the votes. In a statement sent three hours after the vote was called he said:
"For the first time in my professional career I was allowed to grow facial hair, and I it was great.
And, doing it for a purpose made it even better.
Hats off to all the fellas who participated in No Shave November.
While I haven’t conceded yet, congrats to Evan Noorani on his 'win.' J/K."
Taylor came in at third place with 11 percent of the votes. He said No Shave November was a great experience. In a statement released Friday afternoon he said, it was even more worthwhile because it benefited the Community Cancer fund.
The statement read:
“My congratulations to Evan on winning the competition. I thought I would either win or lose by a whisker. However, I ended up losing by several whiskers. Noorani’s beard game is strong.
I’m glad the itchiness went away. It was a little rough at times during the first couple of weeks. I had to trim the length my mustache, though. Feeling the hairs of my upper lip touch food and drink was a weird experience.
For now, I’m planning to keep and maintain my facial hair for the winter months. Because as they say, the funny thing about beards is that…they grow on you.”
Tom Sherry took fourth place with 8 percent of the votes. He congratulated Evan on his big win in a statement Friday afternoon.
“Congratulations to Evan on growing that great beard. All the KREM 2 men grew awesome beards. I’m lucky to be part of a team that brings awareness to men’s health issues.”
Casey Decker fell to last place with just 7 percent of the vote.
Casey could not be reached for comment. However, a source tells us he's keeping his beard.
These guys are not the only one in the KREM newsroom to grow a beard. A few of our photographers, Eric Larsen and Jeff Bollinger, and sports reporter Mike Boyle also participated.
