Long Beach, Calif. ? The new Mr. California USA’s girlfriend had a suitably fond comment after the gold crown was placed on his head.

“It’s really neat,” Yahira Rojo, 20, said when Jeremy Buraglia became the first recipient of the title. “It’s something new, but he’s been there before; we were the prom king and queen” in 2005.

That was back at Anaheim’s Magnolia High School before Buraglia, 21, became a captain in the Army, did a 15-month stint in Iraq and returned to study law enforcement at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Earlier this year he entered what was then the Mr. Seal Beach pageant at the urging of his grandmother.

“People label everything, and you don’t have to match the label,” Buraglia said of the all-male pageant. “Everybody expects things to be cookie-cut, and that’s not how the world is.”

Somewhere along the line, the second annual Mr. Seal Beach contest morphed into the first-ever Mr. California USA pageant, and – voila! – in mid-May the future crime fighter was crowned a king.

“We call it a scholarship pageant, not a beauty pageant,” insisted founder Sarah Ahmadinia, who says she changed the event’s name to broaden its range.

The idea came to her, she said, while watching her 21-year-old daughter Maryam become the 2007 Miss Seal Beach. “I saw it was a good opportunity for the girls,” said Ahmadinia, 46, who also has a son. “My daughter enjoyed it; I saw how much it did for her and thought, why can’t boys do this?”

A little online research, she said, turned up only one other “Mr.” pageant not based on bodybuilding or ethnicity; that one is in nearby Downey. So Ahmadinia, who with her husband owns a furniture manufacturing company, put up $30,000 to get the proverbial red carpet rolling, and aligned the Seal Beach pageant with the Mr. USA franchise.

Last year’s pageant drew 35 participants, but they eventually dwindled to 14. This year’s field began with 22 entrants, gradually whittled down to a dozen, ages 7 to 22.

The contestants are divided into four categories: Little Mr., ages 5 to 8; Junior Mr., from 9 to 12; Teen Mr. from 13 to 17; and Mr., ages 18 to 25.

Like their female counterparts, they are judged in personal interviews, casual wear, formal wear and, finally, on their answers to questions asked onstage. One key difference is that males are not judged in bathing suits. “I didn’t think it was appropriate,” Ahmadinia said. “I told them they could wear swimsuits during the casual-wear judging as long as they weren’t Speedos.”

Looks also aren’t paramount. “It’s not a beauty pageant,” she repeated. “It’s about how they present themselves. I tell the judges to look for someone who is genuine and willing to support the community; we want a good role model.”

During their yearlong reign, the pageant kings and their runner-up princes are expected to participate in charitable events. They also represent the community at social functions. And finally, Ahmadinia said, the winners in each division receive scholarships ranging from $400 to $1,000.