Ruth Brown

One of South Dakota’s most eligible bachelors has been nominated for “Cosmo’s Bachelor of 2007.” Ryan Beyer, a former SDSU student, proudly represented South Dakota as one of the candidates in the competition.

The representatives at Cosmopolitan magazine were charmed by his sexy grin and the description of him that was sent in with his nomination.

Every year, Cosmopolitan magazine has a competition for “Cosmo’s Bachelor of the Year.” People from every state send in applications to nominate their candidate. It is up to the representatives at Cosmopolitan to decide which man will represent each state.

The winner of the competition will have a story written about him in the January 2008 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. He will also receive $10,000 prize. “That gave me a little more reason to hope that maybe there was an outside chance that I would win,” said Beyer.

Beyer grew up on a farm between Flandreau and Brookings, S.D., and he graduated from SDSU in May 2007 with a degree in biology. Beyer is currently a medical student in Michigan.

“I was completely shocked when they chose me,” Beyer said. “I wanted to ask, ‘Are you sure?’ but I didn’t want them to change their mind.”

Beyer was nominated by Nancy Preteau, a friend and an English graduate student at SDSU. “I’m not sure Ryan knew what he was getting into when he agreed to let us nominate him,” said Preteau.

Preteau and her roommate, Tara Schlim, a consumer affairs graduate of SDSU, had never been satisfied with South Dakota’s “Cosmo Bachelors” in previous years. They decided that they wanted to put a stop to it. Then they made it their goal to find a man they thought was worthy of the job.

Although Preteau and Schlim had asked a few men jokingly they were still determined to find the perfect one. While quickly flipping through a Cosmopolitan magazine, Beyer came across the ad for “Cosmo Bachelor” nominations.

“Both of our eyes lit up as we asked if he’d let us nominate him,” said Preteau. “He half seriously agreed, and it all went down hill from there!”

Although Beyer never expected to be chosen, he agreed anyway to satisfy Preteau and Schlim. “I thought to myself, ‘I won’t get picked anyway,’ shows what I know,” said Beyer.

“After meeting ten of the other “Cosmo Bachelors” at our photo shoot, I realized we were all in the same boat,” said Beyer. “We were still not quite sure if this was some elaborate joke our friends were playing.”

Being a “Cosmo Bachelor” has had a few other perks for Beyer. He was in a few short scenes of the popular television show Entertainment Tonight. He also appeared on the television show E! News Weekend, where he was in a few more shots. “I was even compared to Patrick Dempsey,” said Beyer.

Beyer defiantly has a few female fans who have been trying to get a hold of this year’s South Dakota bachelor. “I’ve gotten a few random messages from women. I’ve also gotten quite a few friend requests on Facebook,” said Beyer. “Other than that it was about what I expected.”

#1.883186:2523516738.jpg:cosmo guy Ryan beyer.jpg:Ryan Beyer, a 2007 SDSU grad, was nominated as South Dakota’s Cosmo Bachelor.:Courtesy Photo