Matt Cogar wins Stihl U.S. Timbersports Series

Kids were invited to participate in the lumberjacks slingshot competition – Staff Photo by Michael Williams

Former U.S. Timbersports Champion Arden Cogar Jr. lost his bid to retain his title in the U.S. Championship of the Stihl Timbersports Series held this weekend at the Great Smoky Mountain Lumberjack Feud. Cogar won four of the last five U.S. championships and came into the 2013 competition as the favorite. But a come from behind victory by his cousin, Matt Cogar, surprised the audience and left Arden to settle for second place.

Ten finalists competed in a competition of six disciplines to accrue points. The competition is based on traditional lumberjack events. The six events include the standing block chop, the spring board, the stock saw, the underhand chop, the single buck and the hot saw competition.

Matt Cogar maintained a narrow lead going into the hot saw competition. This last event was Arden’s final chance to retake the lead and maintain his title. Arden’s cut failed to make its mark and he was disqualified in the hot saw.

Matt Cogar will now go on to compete in the World Championship Series to be held in Stuttgart, Germany in October. Matt won the overall competition with 45 points.

Arden Cogar came in second place tying with Mike Forrester with both timberjacks scoring 36 points. David Moses came in third with 33 points. Moses had difficulty with his hot saw when the saw stalled during his cut. Moses restarted the saw and finished his cut in 26 seconds. Carson Bosworth finished fourth followed by Mel Lentz and Super Dave Jewett. In eighth place was Mike Eash followed by Walt Page who finished ninth.

“These lumberjacks are the best of the best in the United States,” said Brad Sorgen, executive producer for Stihl Timbersports.

For the Cogar family lumberjack sports go back almost 90 years when the grandfather of Arden and matt began competing. Today more than 20 members of the Cogar family compete professionally.

The U.S. Championship competition was filmed and will be featured on the Outdoor Channel beginning June 16 and will air on ESPNU in July. For more information about air dates visit www.stihltimbersports.us.