Dad wins title of America’s best beard for second year in a row

By Michael Lee Simpson

Meet the man with America's best beard - 3-foot-long facial hair which he has to spend hours grooming.

Mitchell Strycker, 35, started growing his beard seven years ago — but it has since turned into a passion that has seen him win first place at the National Beard and Mustache Championships two years in a row.

The Ocala, Florida, construction superintendent defended his national title for best beard over 24″ in Everett, Washington, in November.

He's now preparing for the upcoming World Beard and Mustache Championships in July - hoping to win the best beard on the planet.

But it's not easy having the best beard in the country - and upkeep includes regular shampoos, daily oil applications and beard butter to add "shimmer and volume".

"I get stopped on the street all the time,” he said. “I'll get people wanting to come and get pictures. I'm in so many photo books or people's phones that I couldn't tell you how many.

“The ones that stick out in my head are typically the people who don't ask me to touch my beard and then want to try to grab my beard without asking.

"Those ones are kind of more memorable moments.

“You get the head turns walking down the street, walking into a building, walking into a room, you can see and feel all the heads turn.

“And that's kind of the cool thing about walking anywhere. It's an attention-getter to anybody and everybody.”

The dad-of-two started growing his beard in 2017 but it was four years before he entered a competition he saw on Facebook - and won 'Best in Show'

He now travels all over the US for competitions most weekends and isan ambassador for Mad Viking Beard Co.

The National Beard and Moustache Championships are organized annually by Beard Team USA and he won for the second time in November.

His upcoming schedule includes a trip to Alaska in May for a beard competition hosted by a friend.

"It’s a beard, bacon, and booze competition, so it’s just more of a fun one to go out for that one,” he said.

But the big event of the year is in July.

"That is the World Beard and Mustache Championships in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the 4th of July weekend,” he said.

“So I think that stretches from the third to the fifth for the competition dates.

More than just a competition, bearding has become a way for Strycker to give back.

"Almost every competition is for a charity,” he explained. “There are no cash awards or anything like that. It's for some sort of local charity or something within that local community."

Maintaining a beard of this length requires commitment - with a full wash and condition every few days and oil to be applied every day.

"One of the most beneficial things to growing a healthy beard is making sure that the skin is healthy," he said.

“So applying beard oil is daily and a must for me.

"I also like to add a beard butter every few days — that gives it more of a conditioned healthy hair, giving it that shimmer and maybe adding a little volume to it."

He added: “A lot of it is just time, patience, a small routine that I do every day with brushing it out and keeping it clean.

“But genetics and luck are, to me, some of the biggest things that go into being able to grow something this big," he said.

While some competitors experiment with styling their beards, Strycker has kept his natural style.

Strycker noted that most people don’t realize how inclusive competitive beard growing can be - with categories for women included too.

“Just the aspect of it being that it is something, and it is a big community, and it is for a charity event for those most of the time, that’s what makes it interesting,” he said.

He added: “Everybody's included, it’s all-inclusive. They have kids' categories for kids. They got women's categories."

“They'll have every different kind of style for your beard.

“So it lets everybody and anybody who wants to compete or have fun."