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)
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
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
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)
The third-annual competition will take place in Las Vegas on Nov. 11, 2012. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times)
