The Monster Contest in the 2nd Generation

In Rune Factory 2, there is a Contest that involves a test of your ability to tame a Monster and another Contest that tests the strength of your Tame Monsters. In the
2nd Generation, your character can obtain a new outfit in the form of a Monster Outfit by winning the Monster Taming Contest. If your character is a boy, it will be a Wooly outfit. If she is a girl, it will be a Chipsqueek costume. He/she will win Handsome Armour on the day of the Monster Contest.

The Monster Contest in the 2nd Generation is one of the most perplexing events I have encountered. Unlike the Monster Taming Event, which is very straightforward, the rules by which the strength of Tame Monsters is judged are beyond my comprehension.

In the 1st Generation, I had no trouble whatsoever winning the Monster Contest by submitting my Silver Wolf as the entry. Hermann waxed enthusiastic about the strength of the monster and proclaimed me a Winner far beyond all other winners...
I therefore was rather surprised when, in the 2nd Generation, my Hunter Wolf, a companion in almost every battle, failed to win even 2nd Place in the Contest. Hermann proclaimed my Hunter Wolf 'too friendly!' and gave me a lowly Honourable Mention simply for participating. In fact, Herman was quite dismissive with respect to my Hunter Wolf, declaring that: 'This is a kind monster who doesn’t like to fight.' Herman, of course, never has engaged in any activity more strenuous than feasting. Any one who actually had faced a Hunter Wolf in combat in the Padova Mountains would beg to differ with his ridiculous assessment of THAT Monster!

What is interesting here is that the Handsome Armour appeared in my wardrobe at 6.00 a.m. on the morning of the Contest, and thus had no connection with the contest results whatsoever. Furthermore, the 'prize' in each case, whether I won 1st place, 2nd place or simply 3rd place always was the same: a MENTAL SUPPLEMENT.

I trotted out Monster after Monster to log their strength ratings to see if there were any rhyme or reason to the system. I discovered that ALL creatures who could be categorised either as spirits or as creatures of 'darkness' had a strength rating of zero. Thus, the fierce Demon and Arch Demon, Aerian, Tundra, Ignis and all Ghosts and their cousins had strength ratings of zero.

My Claw Dragon had a strength rating of 136 but LOST. A Slime with a strength rating of 116 won 1st Prize. My Hunter Wolf had a rating of 98, making him lower than the Slime or Dark Slime but how could the Claw Dragon and King Minotauros, both at 136 not win???

Each time I entered a Slime or Dark Slime, I won. I finally resigned myself to a sorry situation where a Slime would have to be chosen to represent my farm instead of the glorious golden Hunter Wolf who was my constant companion. As previously stated, however, the prize never varied in any of the test results, whether I won
1st place, 2nd place or simply a mention for participation.

Is the result random each time or is there some iron rule of measure here? It does not matter at all in practical terms, but one would like to know what constitutes strength in terms of the Monster Contest.

Here's a little video I made that shows the strength ratings for a fair number of Monsters. Each of these Monsters is at maximum Friendship Level of 10 Hearts.