ESPN TIMBERSPORTS

HANOVER, N.H. — Two years ago, Curtis Karboski could have — and very possibly should have — won the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Challenge championship presented by Carhartt, and he hasn't forgotten the experience.

After putting up the winning time of 33.8 seconds in the first event of the Northeastern Conclave at Dartmouth College on Saturday, Karboski met up with professional lumberjack and Collegiate Challenge television personality Dave Jewett for an interview. He fielded a couple questions about his technique and mindset before Jewett asked Karboski how he thought the rest of the day would go.

"Well, I love the standing block, but the stock saw … I hate it," said Karboski, of Paul Smith's College in New York. "It's the one event you can easily mess up, and I have in the past."

Karboski's disqualification in the stock saw cost him the 2007 championship. He won both the single buck and underhand, which gave him enough points to tie for the championship. To break the tie, there was a saw-off, and of course, it was the stock saw. Karboski didn't DQ on his run, but he finished a split second behind champion Jay Blackburn.

Phase one of Karboski's revenge was completed Saturday when he won the Northeast Conclave and took the fifth and final earned spot in the collegiate championship (there will be one wildcard picked by STIHL TIMBERSPORTS to chop in the sixth spot). His day included a clean, 17.51-second run in the stock saw.

Corey Christians, from the University of Connecticut, competed in the collegiate championship in 2008 as the wildcard and was supposed to be Karboski's toughest competition this year, but his day was derailed early because of a judgment call he made in the underhand chop.

After blowing through the log in what might have been a winning time, Christians stepped off as if he were done. But head judge Don Quigley said there was still a small piece hanging together at the bottom of the wood. After almost 30 seconds of contemplating whether or not to go with the running time and get back on the log for one more swing, or let Quigley take a closer look and declare it completed as is, Christians stepped back on the log and finished the chop. His time of 1:22.10 all but eliminated his shot at a second trip to the championship.

"I thought it was done, and still do," Christians said. "But I had a lot of people inside the arena telling me it wasn't done, so I decided to get back up and finish it. I still had a great day and that was a great competition.

"I'm real competitive, and the anger I had after that event actually helped me in the other events."

The misstep put Karboski in an almost unbeatable position.

"I feel bad for him," Karboski said. "I wasn't sure if it was done or not, but he went ahead and got back up and finished it."

Christians finished the day in third behind Karboski and second place Richard Russ. Russ said he's been chopping at least two blocks a night and practicing single buck at least two times a week for the past year to perfect his technique. It's his third year to compete.

"I played three sports in high school and I was kind of mediocre at all of them," he said. "But when I started doing [lumberjack sports], I really thrived at it."

Russ said he wasn't sure about pursuing a professional career as a lumberjack, but both Christians and Karboski have it in their plans. Christians, a junior majoring in psychology, said he's already been competing in different events around the country and has two or three more lined up for this summer.

Karboski, a senior majoring in biology, said he almost registered for the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Pro Series this year, but decided to try and qualify through the collegiate ranks. This winner of the collegiate championship gets a paid sponsorship for the pro series in 2010.

"I would love to be on the circuit," he said. "I have a couple springboard times, and I actually just built a hot saw."

But he's got one more event until he'll know whether that goal can be a reality. And to make sure he's ready, Karboski will spend the summer working in Alaska at the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show where he'll be chopping three blocks, two-to-four times a day. He did the same thing before the championship in 2007, but this time, he hopes to have a little more experience in the stock saw.

"Experience always helps," he said. "Being here twice and the championships will be good. I've been in a lot of competitions, so I'm comfortable with it."