Crowd Favorite — $1000 courtesy of Bluebeards Original
Fritz Sendlhofer, Zell am See, Austria

MOUSTACHES

Natural – Adam Orcutt, Michigan City, Indiana
English – Patrick Fette, Erlanger, Kentucky (Derby City Whisker Club)
Dali – Max Pankow, Berlin, Germany (East Bavarian Beard Club)
Imperial– Steve McQuaide, Los Angeles, California (Los Angeles Beard and Moustache Club)
Hungarian— Ross Steidel, Lahaina, Hawaii
Freestyle – Dan Lawlor, Los Angeles, California (Los Angeles Beard and Moustache Club)

PARTIAL BEARDS
Natural Goatee– Guy Thompson, Port Angeles, Washington
Fu Manchu – Wojo Wrzesniewski , Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Imperial – Steve Scarpa, Tehachapi, California (Competitive Bearding Foundation of Los Angeles)
Musketeer – Al Underwood, Los Angeles, California (Competitive Bearding Foundation of Los Angeles)
Sideburns – Toot Joslin, Carnelian Bay, California (Tahoe City Chapter of Beard Team USA)
Amish Beard – David Perry, Miami, Florida (B.O.M.B)
Freestyle – Kevin Riordan, Las Vegas, Nevada

FULL BEARDS
Natural – Neil Moherman , Jeromesville, Ohio (Beard Team Ohio)
Verdi – Jeffrey Moustache, Los Angeles (Competitve Bearding Foundation of Los Angeles)
Garibaldi – Fritz Sendlhofer, Zell Am See, Austria (East Bavarian Beard Club)
Freestyle Full Beard – Peter Weis, German (Pforzheim Beard Friends Club)

YOUNGEST COMPETITOR – Lucas Cooper, Age 21, Los Angeles, California
POKER TOURNAMENT– Chris Ryan, Vic Martinson (co-winners)
TOP CHAPTER – Los Angeles Beard and Moustache Club

Willi Chevalier
(Photo by David Sacks)

Germany is the home of bearding and until recently was the undisputed dominant world power in the sport. But at recent championships, the USA, led by Beard Team USA, has successfully challenged German hegemony.

Here, Willi Chevalier of Sigmaringen, Germany, shows off his partial beard freestyle, once dubbed a “hair pretzel” by NPR’s Robert Siegel.

Photo by David Sacks.

The competition is open to everyone, regardless of nationality, experience, or group affiliation.  For the first time in history, the Nationals will utilize the seventeen-category system commonly employed at the World Beard and Moustache Championships. The categories range from the delicate Dali moustache to the anything-goes full beard freestyle.

Online registration and ticket sales will be available within the next few weeks. Registration will be $40. Admission for spectators is $10.

There will be a full schedule of activities for championships weekend, including a poker tournament and the Whiskerinas’ fake beard contest.

Learn more at Beard Team USA

This competition will feature a show-down between the world’s two bearding megapowers Germany and the United States. The upstart USA dominated the competition in Alaska in 2009 and the two fought to a virtual dead heat in 2011 in Norway. Will home court advantage help Germany re-establish its dominance?

Leinfelden-Echterdingen is a suburb of Stuttgart, located in Southwestern Germany in the region of Swabia, not far from the Black Forest.  The area is famous for Mercedes-Benzes, local wine, and Spaetzle, but don’t worry, there is beer too.

If you find Leinfelden-Echterdingen a bit of a mouthful, just call it “L.E.,” but remember that “E” in German is pronounced like “A” in English.

See you in L.E. (pronounced “L.A.”)!

The 2012 Beard Team USA National Beard and Moustache Championships will take place on Sunday, November 11, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Note that Veteran’s Day will be observed on Monday, November 12.

Jonathan Rice, freestyle champ (photo by Andy Blackburn)

TO ALL WINNERS: Congratulations!

TO ALL CONTESTANTS, SPONSORS, AND ATTENDEES: Thank you!

The Second Annual Beard Team USA National Beard and Moustache Championships took place on October 8, 2011, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The complete results are set forth below.

Note regarding scoring: In the final judging, each judge ranked his/her top three contestants from the finalists selected earlier. Each first-place vote was worth 5 points, each second place vote was worth 3 points, and each third place vote was worth 1 point.

Moustache Category:
First Place ($600): Patrick Gorman, 10 points
Second Place ($300): Benjamin Jurgens, 10 points
(The judges selected Gorman over Jurgens in the tiebreak.)
Third Place ($100): Glen Moore, 6 points
Other finalists:
Sam Holcombe, 6 points
Taylor Weldon, 6 points
(The judges selected Moore over Holcombe and Weldon in the three-way tie for third place.)
Daniel Lawlor, 5 points
Steve Scarpa, 1 point
Detleff Steinhoefel, 1 point
Paul DeLeone
Matyas Kovach

Partial Beard Category:
First Place ($600): Toot Joslin, 18 points
Second Place ($300): Bill Mitchell, 14 points
Third Place ($100): Nate Johnson, 5 points
Other finalists:
Michael Schrader: 4 points
Kevin Demarest, 2 points
Joe Blossom, 1 point
Ryan Messer, 1 point
Eric Moberg
Chris Noe

Full Beard Groomed Category:
First Place ($600): John Myatt, 14 points
Second Place ($300): Burke T. Kenny, 11 points
Third Place ($100): Doug Renfro, 6 points
Other Finalists:
Benjamin Whitney, 6 points
(The judges selected Renfro over Whitney in the tiebreak.)
Rafael Diaz, 3 points
Blair Johnson, 3 points
Joseph Camacho, 1 point
Jeff Roth, 1 point
John Benedict
Maximo Garcia
Gary Faulkner
Jeb Sturmer
Marq Vigilio

Full Beard Natural Category:
First Place ($600): John Burgess, 13 points
Second Place ($300): Bryan Nelson, 12 points
Third Place ($100): Neil Moherman, 12 points
(The judges chose Nelson over Moherman in the tiebreak.)
Other finalists: Rick Angood, 3 points
Al Skipper, 3 points
George Scripture, 1 point
Aarne Bielefeldt
Dave Grams
Trevor Cranmer
Bob Gallagher
Thomas Gerdes
Dan Hudy
Alan Kelly
Geoff Kershaw
Myk O’Connor
PJ Rhymeswithsausage
Andrew Shuler

Freestyle Category:
First Place ($600): Jonathan Rice, 13 points
Second Place ($300): Thomas (Maurice) Smith (Blurton), 10 points
Third Place ($100): Matt Bischoff, 6 points
Other finalists:
John Buckler, 5 points
Brian Quien, 5 points
Andy Smith, 5 points
Gandhi Jones, 1 point
Bert Mayer

Organizers of the event include the East Bavarian Beard Club and the Saalfelden-Leogang Tourist Office. Be prepared for Bier, Blasmusik, and Gemütlichkeit!

Here is a recent email exchange between Beard Team USA’s Larry Donaldson and Magne Torring of Oslo, Norway. Magne happened to be on the train with Beard Team USA from Trondheim to Oslo last May.
________________________

Magne,

With all the chaos going on around the bombing and shooting in Oslo, I hope you are doing OK. You have been on my mind a lot the last few days. The terrorism in Norway has been getting a lot of coverage in the US. It seems to be so much like Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

The train ride from Trondheim to Oslo was one of the highlights of my Norway trip. Having you tell me more about your country was very special.

Remember we are all thinking about you and your country in these trying times.

Larry Donaldson
(member of Beard Team USA)
___________________

Dear Larry.

Thank you so much for your concern and support. We are all shaken, but I hope we can get through this without giving in to hatred and fear. Yesterday somewhere around 150 000 people gathered in Oslo carrying flowers, to mourn the victims and show defiance. But not a word of revenge was spoken except one – the mayor of Oslo said: “We will have our revenge on the perpetrator by becoming an even more open, even warmer society.” I truly believe that is the only way ahead.

It was also an absolute pleasure for me to share coach with the Beard Team USA and with you. It is so easy to make assumptions about the U.S., and I truly appreciated being able to talk to you and learn more about your country and all of its variety. It was a highlight for me as well.

Magne Torring

Click on any of the category names below for the complete wrap-up of the competition in each category.

The opinions expressed are those of founder and self-appointed Captain of Beard Team USA, Phil Olsen.