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GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team recently raised over $8,000 for prostate cancer research by competing in “Mustache Madness” during the month of November.

The Bullets spent the month having people sponsor their mustache, and all $8,635 was donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Competing against 16 other men's lacrosse teams, including several major Division I programs, Gettysburg was the leading school in terms of money raised for nearly the entire month before the University of Virginia surged ahead on the final day.

The event was started by defenseman Ken Clausen and athletic trainer Rebecca Vozzo of Virginia.

“We were trying to raise the most money and were the leader for a while,” said Gettysburg senior Tim Kurpis (Yorktown, N.Y./Yorktown). “But it was good to see so many guys from our team, and especially our coaches raise a lot of money for a good cause.”

Gettysburg also claimed two of the top-five individuals in juniors Andrew Coskey (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) and John Odierna (Oyster Bay, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor), who finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Virginia ended up raising $10,302 to earn the “MadStache Trophy.” In total, the event raised $31,504.

Though the prostate cancer is a serious issue, the Bullets were able to enjoy the lighter side of the competition.

“Personally, the hardest part about going a month with a mustache was the fact that my mustache wasn't visible for the first few weeks,” said Kurpis. “I will honestly say that I had the second-worst stache, with John Odierna holding the honor of weakest stache.”

Though some players found growing a mustache to be difficult or awkward – “I know a lot of guys dyed their stache with Just for Men gel, so they kind of looked like pirates,” quipped Kurpis – it certainly wasn't the case for senior Kyle McGrath (Randolph, N.J./Randolph), who enjoyed the hairy-lipped look.

“I would like to think I had the best stache during the competition,” he said. “I wish every month were Mustache Madness. I regretted it the minute I shaved it off.”