W, B & M Championships

One contestant had a mustache twisted into the shape of London's Tower Bridge; others sported bushy beards that would make Grizzly Adams envious. In the end, Beard Team USA nabbed four of the top honors, by a whisker!, at the World Beard and Mustache Championships.

The event had long been dominated by German beard clubs, but the Americans made a strong showing at this year's competition, taking victories in four categories.

Jack Passion, a 23-year-old from San Francisco, won the highly competitive "Full Natural Beard" competition with his flowing orange fuzz. "I feel fantastic," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I'm 23 and I have the best beard in the world."

The mustache categories include the "Dali", slender with long tips, straight or arching up, and the big and bushy "Hungarian," while the beard categories ranged from the shorter "Verdi" to the rounder, more expansive "Garibaldi."

Those with particularly fanciful fuzz , like the man with the Tower Bridge growing from his face , competed in freestyle categories.