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Results of the 1st Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Championships

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The first-ever Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Championships took place at the Federal Bar in North Hollywood Sunday afternoon, and you know competition’s tough when Abraham Lincoln comes in third place.

Honest Abe -- in all his stovepipe-hatted, bow-tied glory -- was actually professional Lincoln presenter Robert Broski of Covina, and his third-place finish was in the partial beard category, behind Chris Noel (whose business card reads: ‘actor / musician / #1 freak’ ) in second place, and Nathan Johnson grabbing top honors.

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Photos: A gallery from the inaugural Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Championships

And though there were three additional beard categories (business beard, full beard and freestyle -- which included tonsorial topiaries of all kinds) included in the facial-hair faceoff organized by the North Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Club, it was the ‘stache that brought more than a dash of panache -- and solidified the City of Angels as the home of the handlebar.

‘The mustache [category] was the most competitive I’ve seen anywhere,’ Phil Olson remarked afterward of the 28 vying for a prize (representing more than a quarter of the nearly 100 competitors in all). ‘I’d call Los Angeles the City of Mustaches.’

Olson knows of what he speaks. In addition to serving as the event’s scorekeeper*, he’s the captain of Beard Team USA and has been to countless competitions all over the country and the world. (And you may recall, if you follow such things, that Los Angeles swept the Imperial Moustache category at the 2009 world competition in Anchorage, Alaska.) The lip spinach wasn’t all that was in abundance in the crowd that organizers estimated climbed to nearly 300 over the course of the day -- roughly half were females -- assorted spouses, gal pals and a fair number of what appeared to be beard and mustache groupies, some sporting stick-on ‘staches, others with knit beards or temporary tonsorial tattoos or T-shirts that combined a heart-and-handlebar design.

Although she hadn’t adorned herself with any of the aforementioned accoutrements, L.A. resident Maria Weitz nonetheless found herself enthralled by the forest of facial hair on hand.

‘I’m overwhelmed, honestly,’ the 26-year-old said as she sipped a drink. ‘I found out about it on the Internet, saw a link to buy tickets, and I was like: ‘Click. Let’s goooooooo!’ Since I’ve been here I’ve seen a Viking, a pirate and Abe Lincoln.’

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Complete results of the first Los Angles Beard and Mustache Championships:

Business Beard

  1. Tyler Bussard*
  2. John Parmar
  3. John Thornhill

Partial Beard

  1. Nathan Johnson
  2. Chris Noel
  3. Robert Broski

Mustache

  1. Shawn Hasson
  2. Dan Lawler
  3. Jack Dishon

Freestyle

  1. Andrew Smith
  2. Bradley Kranich
  3. Pedro Ayala

Full Beard

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  1. Jack Passion
  2. Myk O’Connor
  3. Scott Lehr

[*Updated 8/16/11 8:53 AM: In an earlier version of this post, Phil Olson was incorrectly referred to as a competition judge. He was the scorekeeper, and Tyler Bussard’s last name was spelled incorrectly, it is Bussard, not Brussard.]

Photo gallery from the inaugural Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Championships

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Local beard and mustache faceoff set for Aug. 14

IFC’s ‘Whisker Wars’ starts Aug. 5: In pursuit of the hirsute

Results of the 2011 World and Beard and Moustache Championships in Norway

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-- Adam Tschorn

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