2011 National Beard and Moustache Championships

First-time competitor Ryan Messer, 22, of Sarasota, Fla., left, Steve Scarpa of Tehachapi, Calif., and Dayton, Ohio’s Thomas Smith wait for the start of a news conference kicking off the second National Beard and Moustache Competition organized by Beard Team USA, held Oct. 8, 2011, in Lancaster, Penn. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

March 19, 2014 4:01 PM PT

2011 National beard and moustache competition

Team Canada enters Clipper Magazine Stadium at the 2011 National Beard and Moustache Championships in Lancaster, Penn. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Matt Bischoff of Cincinnati, left, placed third in the Freestyle category at the 2011 National Beard and Moustache Championships in Lancaster, Penn. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Self-appointed captain of Beard Team USA and event organizer Phil Olsen announces introduces the event judges at the 2011 National Beard and Moustache Championships. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Benjamin Juergens, of Hanover, Penn., who ended the day with a second-place win in the Moustache category, explains his grooming technique to the judges. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

First-place finisher in the Freestyle category, Jonathan Rice of Plantation, Fla., used 2-liter soda bottles to help shape his winning look. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Bert Mayer holds his number aloft for the judges in the preliminary round of judging in the Freestyle category. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Daniel Lawlor, center, a member of the Northern Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Club, was a finalist in the Mustache category. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Competitor in the Moustache category Matthew Hall turned out in full Capt. Morgan regalia. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Jim Downing of Springfield, Mo., a competitor in the Moustache category, accessorized his handlebar mustache with an old-fashioned bicycle. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Paul De Leone, a competitor in the Moustache category, urges crowd support (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Although Keith “Gandhi Jones” Haubrich had won back-to-back world championships in the Freestyle Moustache category (this year in Trondheim and at the 2009 Alaska contest) and a third-place finish at last year’s nationals in Bend, Ore., his whale of a `stache failed to earn him a medal in the anything-goes Freestyle category. “ A sad fishy,” Haubrich later said. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Competitor Paul Beisser of Santa Cruz colored and groomed his beard and moustache to resemble the logo of Beard Team USA, a version of which is visible on his T-shirt. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Chance Rix, 16, of Brownsville, Ky., was the youngest registered contestant at the 2011 National Beard and Moustache Championships and said he decided to enter because everyone tells him he’s “got a great beard.” (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Finalists in the Full Beard Natural category await the judges’ decision. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)

Among the judges of the 2011 National Beard and Moustache Championships were Miss Pennsylvania Juliann Sheldon and international beardsman Willi “the Hair Pretzel” Chevalier. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)