Local men bristling with ambition for beard contest

Anthony Francolino and Brian Mantooth, aspiring champions both, faced each other at Geno's in South Philadelphia the other day, comparing training regimens and scouting for possible contenders for America's Team.

Standing along Passyunk Avenue like two monumental figures carved in granite, they chewed over strategy while keeping watch.

An unsuspecting gray-bearded biker, a cheesesteak in hand and unprintable words tattooed on his right arm, ambled up to a sidewalk table.

Francolino made a beeline to him, parting a throng of tourists. Mantooth was on his heels.

Francolino's ice-blue eyes burned with the fervor of an Old Testament prophet. He produced a business card from his shirt pocket.

"We're from Beard Team USA," he said. "We're looking for support."

The biker gave the impression that he was not about to be swept up like trimmings on a barbershop floor. Francolino pressed on.

"And with that beard," he continued, "I'm pretty sure you could be a contender."

The biker's resolve broke. "Call me Butcher," he said, accepting the card - and swallowing Francolino's hook.

Francolino, the president of the Tri-State Beard and Moustache Club, launched into his spiel.

Phooey on the Olympics. Anyone can jump or sprint, he declared. It takes a real man to grow a beard.

"In a word, it's all about dedication," he said, as Mantooth nodded in agreement.

And Francolino, 31, and Mantooth, 26, are certainly dedicated. Their full-length beards - Francolino's is coal-black, Mantooth sports a ginger thicket - are veritable whiskers of wonderment that would shame Walt Whitman and the Smith Brothers.

The duo are two of the rising stars of Beard Team USA, a squad of roughly 200 Americans who have said they will compete at the World Beard and Moustache Championships.

Next year's face-off, the ninth biennial competition, will be held in Anchorage. And Francolino, with Mantooth at his side, plans to lead the local delegation to Alaska - and to victory.

Part cheeky beauty contest and part surreal celebration of masculinity, the championships were founded in 1990 in Germany. Gender testing has never been a requirement, so nobody knows for sure if a woman has ever been a successful competitor.

Bewhiskered contestants vie for bragging rights in at least 15 categories, including full beard, Fu Manchu, musketeer and Dali mustache.

Beard Team USA - founded in 2003 and based in Tahoe City, Calif. - is led by the heroically hirsute Phil Olsen, a part-time settlement conference judge for the Nevada Supreme Court.

Twenty chapters of the team are scattered across the face of America, with additional clubs "popping up faster than the fuzz on a teenager's upper lip," Olsen said.

The team's stated goal is to promote the worldwide appreciation of facial hair. But the similarity of the words beard and beer, at least in English, have led to a celebration of both.

"Beer is a very, very integral part of the world championships. It's the only proven performance-enhancing substance we know of," Olsen said, tongue firmly planted behind his black-bearded cheek. "But we don't want the Germans to know that."

Francolino, a manager at a South Philadelphia Rent-A-Center, holds meetings of the Tri-State squad at a South Jersey watering hole near his home in Turnersville. Mantooth makes the trip from Cumberland County for the sporadic get-togethers.

"I've learned a lot since joining the team," said Mantooth. "There were a lot of things I was doing wrong."

For instance?

"Cutting the moustache and trimming the fly-aways," Mantooth said. "That's a big mistake. As Olsen says, 'A short hair today could be a long one tomorrow.' "

Butcher, who hasn't shaved since 1972, had listened patiently to the men's pitch. But he wasn't convinced he'd make a good teammate. He had professional and recreational limitations.

"I'm a welder," he said. "What doesn't fit under my mask catches fire."

Besides, his life as a biker on the highway would make competing impossible, he said.

"When [my beard] gets to a certain length," he claimed, "the wind rips it out by the root."

For more information, or to submit an application to join Beard Team USA, visit http://beardteamusa.org/.EndText