STIHL Announces Lumberjack Team USA to Compete in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS World Championship
OutdoorHub 08.21.12
The World’s Top Lumberjack Athletes to Converge on Lillehammer, Norway Sept. 7-8
STIHL Inc., creator and producer of the world’s premier lumberjack competition, the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series presented by Ram Trucks, announced today the six U.S. lumberjack athletes that will make up Team USA in the 2012 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series World Championship. The World Championship will be held in Lillehammer, Norway Sept. 7-8, where the biggest names in lumberjack sports from 24 nations will meet in the host city of the 1994 Winter Olympics to battle for the world champion title. More than 10,000 spectators are expected to attend the eighth annual two-day international event. The entire competition will stream live on STIHLTIMBERSPORTS.US.
Team USA will be led by U.S. Champion, Arden Cogar Jr. from West Hamlin, W.Va. Cogar out-chopped and out-sawed the country’s top lumberjack athletes for the second consecutive year at the 2012 U.S. Championship in early June. In addition to his U.S. Champion title, Cogar also went home with a Ram 1500 truck, built for strength with up to 390 horsepower and 11,500 pounds of towing capacity.
“I’m humbled and honored to be representing our country again this year in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series World Championship,” said Cogar. “There is no doubt that the competition will be fierce in Norway but Team USA has been training harder than ever and we’re excited to showcase our skills to the world.”
On Friday, Sept. 7, more than 100 lumberjack athletes will compete in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series World Championship relay competition to determine the best lumberjack team in the world. In the relay competition, four representatives from participating countries face off in a four-discipline race featuring the single buck, standing block chop, stock saw and underhand chop. The 2012 U.S. World Championship relay team includes Dave Jewett from Pittsford, NY on the single buck, Matt Cogar (cousin of Arden Cogar Jr.) from Diana, W.Va. on the standing block chop, Warrick Hallett from Glencoe, Minn. on the stock saw and Branden Sirguy from Port Angeles, Wash. on the underhand block. This year’s Collegiate Champion, Tim Benedict from Penn State University will also travel to Norway to represent the U.S. in the relay competition as a part of the international rookie relay team.
Following the relay, the individual competition featuring U.S. competitor Arden Cogar Jr. will take place Saturday, Sept. 8, where the top lumberjack athletes in the world will face off in six disciplines; the hot saw, single buck, springboard chop, standing block chop, stock saw and underhand chop. The
top-performing athlete will be crowned the world champion. In 2011, Cogar placed sixth in the world and the U.S. relay team placed third.
Established in 1985 by STIHL, the number-one selling brand of gasoline-powered handheld outdoor power equipment in America*, the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series, billed as the Original Extreme Sport, attracts the world’s top lumberjack athletes in a competition based on historic logging techniques. The Series is seen by millions of viewers annually in more than 62 countries on networks such as ESPNU, Eurosport, Outdoor Channel and TUFF TV.
Get the latest information, stay up to date on news and competition and access behind-the-scenes photos and videos by joining the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series community online and on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
