Top Timbersport talent take out titles

The three defending champions from last year’s NZ STIHL Timbersports® National Championships have all gone ‘back-to-back’ by winning their respective divisions again at this year’s event held over the weekend.

King Country farmer, and reigning World Trophy champion, Jack Jordan beat nine other competitors by the narrowest of margins to win his third Men’s national title, that was held as part of the Rural Games in Palmerston North.

Although Jordan had two wins and three seconds out of the six wood-chopping and wood-sawing disciplines – he only narrowly beat his brother Shane Jordan by less than a second on overall time across the six disciplines - and will now go on to represent New Zealand at the STIHL Timbersports® World Championships in France and the World Trophy in Italy later this year.

Jordan – a former Taranaki Bull’s lock - capped off a great couple of days with Saturday’s result having earlier (Friday evening) also been awarded the NZ Rural Sports Person of the Year Supreme Award for the second year in a row.

Aussie-based Kiwi Anne Paterson lead a 12-strong field to win the Women’s NZ STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® National Championships. Paterson finished amongst the top three competitors across all three disciplines – the stock-saw, the single saw and the underhand – to take a comfortable three point victory.

Paterson who hails from Greymouth, left the west coast for the Gold Coast eight years ago where she continued her passion for wood chopping, becoming one of Australia’s top axe-woman in the highly competitive circuit across the Tasman, winning several state and regional titles.

In the Rookies (Under-25 year) division, a tightly fought competition sent all the signals that the future looks bright for New Zealand’s up and coming Timbersport talent – especially in the provinces. Tokoroa’s Cleveland Cherry secured a repeat title ahead of Matthew Gower from Whangamomona and Stratford’s Sam Bellamy.

The Rookie who needed his parents’ consent to compete in the competition, 16-year old Jack Matthews from Hokitika, gained valuable experience finishing a creditable sixth out of nine competitors.

Legendary Kiwi axeman Jason Wynyard was honoured at the championship with the inaugural Jason Wynyard Memorial Trophy for the winner of the Men’s Single Buck (saw) discipline. The winner was Bobby Dowling.

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