KC's Ivan "the Squatch" dominates in beard battle
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Ivan Pancic with his award-winning whiskers. Photos: Courtesy of Ivan Pancic and Ron Wolek
A Kansas City man stole the show at a Nebraska beard competition that was judged by some of competitive facial hair's biggest wigs.
The big picture: Ivan "the Squatch" Pancic dominated the Big Beautiful Badass Beard Battle last weekend with 13 inches of flowing facial locks, taking home four first-place finishes, including the Best Beard Award and Best in Show.
- The top competition was a close shave, with second and third places separated by one point.
Zoom in: The competition was part of Herostock, a veteran and first-responder festival in Ashland, Nebraska.
- Judges included Hollywood hair and makeup artist Ron Wolek, mustache champion Philip Patton, and Kevin Gouran, CEO of beard care brand Doc Goodbeard.
What they're saying: "I was really surprised when they called my name" as the winner, Pancic tells Axios. "It was just a blast" seeing the other "beard-os."
- He says he started growing out his beard during the pandemic, starting from scratch. "Every beard has a story."
How it works: Contestants are measured and placed into categories for length, beard style and natural vs. groomed.
- Judges then score based on six criteria: shape, balance, grooming, style, mustache and density.
- Wolek tells Axios he came up with the adjudicating system, which gives contestants more feedback than typical facial hair competitions.
- "I felt there had to be a better way to evaluate facial hair," he says.
💭 My thought bubble: I've had some fashion of facial hair since I could grow mutton chops as a freshman in high school, but these beards put my meager chin to shame.
What we're watching: Pancic is now looking for more competitions and has aspirations to compete in The World Beard and Moustache Championships next year in the U.K.
- If the Kansas City Renaissance Festival's Viking Invasion weekend has crowned beard champions as in years past, Pancic could defend his form closer to home this September.