The Top Lumberjacks at the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS 2022 U.S. Championships

World records were smashed, and so was a lot of wood inside Simmons Bank Arena in Little Rock, AR

From the LifeMinute.TV Team

August 4, 2022

The top lumberjack sports athletes in the country had their final competition this past weekend LIVE in front of an audience for the first time since 2019. The sport challenges the strongest, toughest, and most skilled as they go head-to-head with razor-sharp axes and high-powered chainsaws. In its 37th year, this extreme sport combines the power of STIHL with the performance of the country’s top lumberjack sports athletes resulting in high-octane axe-tion and heart-pounding competition that comes down to seconds. The U.S. Championships featured the rookies, women, and men divisions.

Matt Cogar of Grafton, West Virginia, further etched his name in STIHL TIMBERSPORTS history by winning his seventh U.S. Men’s Championship, beating out Nate Hodges by only two one-hundredths of a second in the Hot Saw, the final event of the weekend, with a time of 5.78 seconds to secure the trophy.

Cogar will travel next to Gothenburg, Sweden, to battle the top lumberjack athletes in the world at the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Individual World Championship on October 29.

In another furious finish, Erin LaVoie of Spokane, Washington, fought her way to the top by placing first in the Underhand Chop and the Standing Block, where she set a new world record time of 31.85 seconds.

And Andrew O’Connell of West Falls, New York, outlasted seven competitors to win the U.S. Rookie Championship. He set a new U.S. national record time of 13.83 in the Standing Block on his way to victory.

The most intense moment of the championships came when Adam Lethco of Maryville, Tennessee, set a new world record in the Hot Saw event with a blistering time of 4.63 seconds. The previous record, 4.87 seconds, was held by Germany’s Robert Ebner.

If you missed it live, no worries, you can watch all the action via the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS YouTube Channel, plus special episodes are set to air on CBS Sports this fall.

For more information, visit stihlusa.com/stihl-timbersports.