By Adam Tschorn

November 13, 2012, 7:33 p.m.

LAS VEGAS -- California lived up to its Golden State nickname at the 2012 National Beard and Moustache Championships held Nov. 11 in Las Vegas, taking home six first-place wins and 17 medals overall from the 54 awarded across 18 different categories of mustache, partial beard and full beard. 

More than 340 whiskered warriors from 44 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and five other nations (Austria, Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland) gathered at the Clark County Government Center Amphitheater and whisked their whiskers past a five-person panel of judges (including, by way of full disclosure, this facial-hair aficionado) over the course of nearly six hours. 

PHOTOS: 2012 National Beard and Moustache Championships

Washington was the state with the second-highest medal count with two first place wins and five medals overall. Other noteworthy achievements came from the visiting German competitors, who took home two golds, a silver and a bronze, and the first-ever gold medal win by a Canadian competitor (and, if our memory serves correctly, the first ever medal of any kind won by our neighbors to the north in the three annual national competitions).  

The full results, listed in descending order from gold to silver to bronze, are: 

Natural Moustache

  1. Adam Orcutt, Michigan City, Ind.
  2. Wolfgang Schneider, Oppenweiler, Germany
  3. Adam Scott Paul, Los Angeles

 English Moustache

  1. Patrick Fette, Erlanger, Kentucky
  2. Dustin Reese, Fresno, California
  3. Brian Werle, Napa, California

Dali Moustache

  1. Max Pankow, Berlin
  2. Matt Bilfield, Los Angeles
  3. Ian Stettler, Lake Station, Ind.

Imperial Moustache

  1. Steve McQuaide, Burbank
  2. James McMahon, Milwaukee
  3. Jackie Ellison, Houston

Hungarian Moustache

  1. Ross Steidel, Lahaina, Hawaii
  2. Jim Downing, Springfield, Mo.
  3. Benjamin Upshur, Olympia, Wash.