David Traver of Anchorage took the freestyle beard category and then was crowned overall champion Saturday night in the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships.

The event, at Anchorage's Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, drew nearly 300 competitors from around the world who competed in many categories.

And the winners were...

World Beard Overall Champions

First: David Traver, Anchorage, Alaska, Freestyle Full Beard Category First Place Winner

Second: Benjamin Juergens, Los Angeles, Calif., Imperial Partial Beard Category First Place Winner

Third: Jack Passion, San Francisco, Calif., Natural Full Beard Category First Place Winner

FULL BEARD CATEGORIES:

Verdi

Beard: short and round at the bottom, no longer than 10 cm. below the bottom of the lower lip. As it grows naturally, the more the better. Moustache, consisting only of hairs growing from within 1.5 cm. past the end of the upper lip, should be prominent and not integrated with the beard. Aids allowed.

First: Karl Roos, Germany

Second: Markus Bross, Germany

Third: David Casswell, Kenai, Alaska

Garibaldi

Beard: round and wide at the bottom, no longer than 20 cm. from the bottom of the lower lip. The beard is as it grows naturally, the more the better. The moustache may not be separated from the beard or made prominent. Aids allowed.

First: Douglas Renfro, Anchorage, Alaska

Second: Norman Pendergraft, Eagle River, Alaska

Third: Kim Price, Atlanta, Georgia

Natural Full Beard

Full beard as it grows and left natural, the more natural the better. The moustache is blended into the beard. No aids allowed.

First: Jack Passion, San Francisco, Calif.

Second: Craig “Rooty” Lundvall, South Everett, Wash.

Third: Alois Plettl, Germany

Natural Full Beard with Style Moustache

Moustache is prominent and consisting only of hairs growing from within 1.5 cm. past the end of the upper lip. Aids allowed. Beard: as it grows naturally, the more natural the better. No aids allowed.

First: Bernd Popiak, Germany

Second: Bob Gengler, Eagle River, Alaska

Third: Kyle McNair, Ontario, Canada

Freestyle Beard

Free design and styling of the beard. All full beards that do not qualify for other categories may compete in this category. Aids allowed.

First: David Traver, Anchorage, Alaska

Second: Gerhard Knapp, Germany

Third: Hans-Peter Weis, Germany

PARTIAL BEARD/GOATEE CATEGORIES:

Alaskan Whaler

This is a traditional Alaska seafarer's beard: bushy, grown on cheeks, chin and lower lip; no hair grown on upper lip.

First: Jeremy Feltman, Kenai

Second: Aaron Suring, Juneau

Third: Shawn Campbell, Anchorage

Freestyle Partial Beard

This is free design and styling of the beard. All partial beards that do not qualify for other categories may compete in this category. There must be a clean-shaven space at least 4 cm. wide either on the cheek, chin, or between the head hair and the beard. Aids are allowed.

First: Stuart Wilf, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Second: Roland van Den Bremt, Belgium

Third: John Plummer, Anchorage

Fu Manchu

Chin shaven with moustache allowed to start to grow up to a maximum of 2.0 cm. beyond and below the end of the upper lip. Tips long and pulled downward. Aids are allowed.

There were only two contestants for this category.

First: Ted Stedman, United Kingdom

Second: Steinhoefel Detleff, Germany

Imperial Partial Beard

This has hair on the cheeks and upper lip. There must be clean-shaven spaces of at least 4 cm. wide on the chin and between the facial hair and the onset of the head hair. The whiskers are styled upwards. No closed curls. The hairs on the upper lip may not be separated from the hairs on the cheeks. The hairs may not be too long, not above the level of the eyes. Aids allowed.

First: Karl-Heinz Hille, Germany

Second: Udo Fritzsche, Germany

Third: Mark Voermans, Belgium

Musketeer

This is a narrow chin beard that comes to a point. Moustache narrow, long, slightly curved and combed to the sides. Moustache may consist only of hairs that grow within 1.5 cm past the end of the upper lip. Aids allowed.

First: Juergen Draheim, Germany

Second: Frazer Coppin, United Kingdom

Third: Reinhard Burker, Germany

Natural Goatee

Tied for First: Breman Grove, Indiana and Paul Beisser, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Third: Servay Wolfgang, Germany

Sideburns/Muttonchops

Must be a true sideburn. No natural or shaven gap by the ear. Chin is shaven and hair is optional on the upper lip. Aids allowed.

First: Toot Joslin, Tahoe City, Calif.

Second: Bruno Panza, Italy

Third: Bill Mitchell, Georgia

MUSTACHE CATEGORIES

Imperial

First: Benjamin Juergens, Los Angeles

Second: Patrick Melcher, Los Angeles

Third: Alex Antebi Los Angeles

Dali

First: Tony Papai, Germany

Second: Max Klaus Pankow, Germany

Third: Robert Starnes, New Orleans

English

First: Lutz Giese, Germany

Second: George Haskins, Fairbanks

Third: Sam Holcombe, Jacksonville, Fla.

Freestyle

First: Keith Haubrich aka Gandhi Jones, Seattle

Second: Devon Holcombe, Jacksonville, Fla.

Third: Luk Vanderbeuren, Belgium

Hungarian

First: Nicholas Dighiera, Eagle River

Second: Guenter Rosin, Germany

Third: Josef Ibach, Germany,

Natural

First: Kees Lek, Netherlands

Second: Keith Jefferson, United Kingdom

Third: Ben Davidson, Ridley Park, Pa.