Bolstad gets warmed up
New Zealand lumberjack cruises through second round
Pool A results | Photo galleries
COLUMBUS, Ga. — For eight lumberjacks competing Friday in the second round of the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Professional Series presented by Carhartt, the sweltering heat drenched shirts, cramped muscles and forced everyone in Pool A to scramble for any relief from the oppressive sun.
For defending Professional Series champion David Bolstad, the stifling conditions proved to be a non-factor.
"I feel a little bit of my form is coming back," Bolstad said, after taking the top spot with 45 overall Carhartt competition points.
The dominating New Zealand lumberjack explained how the weather experienced at these Aflac Outdoor Games will only continue to help him slice his way through the field come Sunday.
"I've been pretty stiff before," he said. "This heat helps."
By 5 p.m. Friday, temperatures in the low 90s loosened Bolstad's body and spirit enough to take the Carhartt Chopping Award and the STIHL Sawing Award. He beat second-place finisher Dale Ryan of Australia by eight points. Taking the third slot to compete on Sunday, American Carson Bosworth earned 29 points, following a steady day, which included an impressive first-place performance in the single buck.
And finally Mike Sullivan, who advanced to Columbus in a dramatic "chop-off" in Lehi, Utah's, first round, provided fans with another nail-biting ending as he squeaked into the final round after a hot saw disqualification to Arden Cogar Jr.
With a one-point lead going into the final event, Cogar needed only to beat Sullivan's time of 6.45 seconds in the hot saw. The West Virginian made a quick downward cut and it seemed as though the other two cuts would come as easily.
Then came trouble.
"My thigh must have hit the kill switch or something," Cogar said, clearly upset with the mishap that stopped his saw. "It died right there in my hand."
Because Cogar disqualified in the event, Sullivan slipped into the final four from Pool A and the Pennsylvania resident humbly accepted his reward.
"I got lucky," Sullivan said. "He made a great first cut and I expected him to do it. But a standing block-off? I wasn't looking forward to that against Arden."
If Cogar's saw had functioned correctly, the two competitors could have potentially been forced into another tie-breaking event.
"The hot saw is just a tough event to count on," Bosworth said before the first heat of the final event. Created from snowmobile and motorbike parts, the temperamental homemade saws often give lumberjacks fits.
Bosworth, from Wisconsin, posted consistent results in each event and finished in the middle of the pack throughout the day, despite his lowest personal score on the hot saw.
Cogar, Martin Komarek, Christophe Geissler and William Roberts failed to make the cut.
Boom run quarterfinals
Katie Rick sprinted across floating, linked logs in 11.78 seconds to post the best score in Friday's quarterfinal event. Rick beat Crystal Gross to move on to Saturday's semifinal round.
The smiling Rick hinted the run may have been a personal best.
Taylor Duffy beat Maggie Bulk by 1.05 seconds in her head-to-head bracket. In another matchup, Jenny Atkinson advanced to Saturday after Alyse Schroeder received a 15-second penalty for failing to restart at the proper log after falling into the water. And first-ranked seed Shana Martin outpaced Olivia Judd to move onto the next round.
Tree climb results
With a 12.93-second time in the tree climb, Derek Knutson proved his first-ranked seeding was warranted in Columbus. The agile athlete beat Sean Duffy to advance and will face Cassidy Scheer on Saturday.
Scheer, who beat Joel Kapp with a 12.42 time, knows the formidable Knutson awaits.
"I've got my work cut out for me going against Derek in the next round," he said.
In the two other quarterfinal brackets, Brian Bartow moved past Guy German with a 12.76-second climb and Stirling Hart fell to the mat just before Shane Sabin at 13.60 seconds.
