Cherry Valley Lumberjack

To Vie In Germany In Fall

Nathan Waterfield Third In U.S Competition

CHERRY VALLEY – Two days of national wood-chopping competition in Tinley Park, Ill., is over, and Nathan Waterfield of Cherry Valley tied for third place in the in the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® 2016 U.S. Professional Championship last Saturday evening.

Matt Cogar of Chillicothe, Ohio, was first, competing among the nation’s best lumberjack athletes at Tinley Park Convention Center in Chicago Southland.

Arden Cogar, Jr. finished in second place, and Waterfield tied with Walt Page for third place.

Cogar, Jr. earned a John Deere Gator and a new Dodge Ram truck, and Waterfield and Page each earned a $1,000 Duluth gift card. Additionally, Calvin Willard of Barnet, Vt., tore through the hot saw in 5.440 seconds, clocking the fastest time in the discipline this year.

He, Waterfield and the rest of the top contenders will compete on behalf of the U.S. at the World Championship in Germany in November.

Cogar scored 42 of a potential 48 points, making this his most lopsided victory in his four-year run. He won three events (the underhand chop, the stock saw and standing block chop), finished second in the springboard chop, third in the hot saw and fourth in the singe buck.

The 2016 Championship spanned two days, with the qualifying round held on Friday. Twenty competitors were divided into two pools of 10, where they competed in six disciplines: springboard chop, stock saw, standing block chop, single buck, underhand chop and hot saw. The top four athletes from each pool advanced to the Championship round on Saturday.

During the Championship round, the finalists show why some call the lumberjack competition “The Original Extreme Sport,” as contestants chopped, sawed, bucked and battled their way through another round of each discipline.