Wham! Crack! Crash! Whack!
Squint, and through the haze of woodchips you might glimpse an axe-wielding giant going at a tree trunk like he’s Babe Ruth at bat. He’s the Jason Voorhees of trees, the kind of guy whose name should come with an exclamation point: Arden Cogar Jr.!
Fifty-seven years old, standing 5′ 11″, wearing a brimmed hat and incongruous thin-rimmed glasses, the woodcutting champion looks like he’s stepped out of American folklore.
For that matter, maybe he has.
THE LINEAGE
He has ironclad (or ironwood) proof of that too.
His father, Arden Cogar Sr., was a lifelong woodsman who found his calling when his timber camp, the Cherry River Lumber Company, held a friendly competition with the Dolly River Timber Company.
Many stumps later, Cogar Sr. had established dominance in his new sport: woodcutting, where contestants race to saw, hack and split massive hunks of wood apart. His legendary performances and multiple world records testify to his prowess. At the time, it wouldn’t have been a stretch to call him the United States’ most renowned lumberjack after Paul Bunyan.
It was a celebrity Cogar Sr. achieved despite leaving school in the third grade to help provide for his family.
When it came to his son, however, he had other plans.
OUT OF THE WOODS
“My father recognized early in life that I had a decent head on my shoulders, or at least I could talk a good yarn,” Cogar said. “He didn’t want me working in the woods. He gave me the choice to be a doctor or a lawyer.”
Cogar made his choice. He headed off to West Virginia University as a first-generation college student, earning bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science, a master’s in business administration, and in 1997, a law degree.
But just because Cogar didn’t work in the woods like his father didn’t mean he couldn’t compete in them.
After joining the University’s Forestry Club, which participates in woodcutting events, he rediscovered his passion for the sport.
“I won my first title when I was 23, when I was in graduate school,” Cogar said. “I then started excelling in the Stihl Timbersports Series, which is the pinnacle of our sport, and placed second while I was in law school.”
Competition took a back seat to law, and then to fatherhood, until Cogar’s mid-30s, when he won the U.S. Stihl Timbersport Series title four times.
That’s when his sporting career took off — along with his legal career.
HITTING HARD
Cogar now works as an attorney at McCorkle Lavender PLLC, where he specializes in commercial and insurance defense litigation. Many of his clients are — you guessed it — timber companies.
“Part of the history of West Virginia, to me, is hard work,” Cogar said. “We do hard work for fun. Today, so much work is pressing, typing, sending — we need that release in order to reset ourselves psychologically. I sit and type for four hours, and then I have to hit something.”
That competitive drive has brought Cogar more awards, titles and records than you can split with an axe. He’s won three national pro championships, taken the silver at the world championship twice and can halve a 12-inch block of wood in 17 seconds flat.
He also remains connected to WVU through the Forestry Club, which he often coaches and sponsors.
CUTTING TO THE HEART OF IT
Now approaching 60, Cogar finds himself in a reflective mood on many topics.
His legacy as a woodcutter: “While I’ll never consider myself to be the Michael Jordan of the sport — frankly, I’m more of a Vince Carter — I know what I’ve accomplished.”
Being a Mountaineer: “It’s not only about being close to where or what you call home. It’s also about what feels right, where you feel comfortable in your own skin, and knowing that if you have a problem, there’s nine or 10 people you can call and they’ll come help you.”
Cogar’s built a significant reputation in the woodcutting world. He’s served as the master of ceremonies at numerous woodcutting events and was inducted into the Strength and Power Hall of Fame in April 2026.
However, one honor stands above all the rest. He earned it in 1994, at the Albany Timber Festival in Oregon.
“I won the 12-inch standing block world title, turned around, and saw my father crying,” Cogar said. “He had been the only other American to win it up until that point. He grew up during the Great Depression, so all he ever knew was tough love. That moment meant more to me than anything.
“Every time I touch an axe handle, I think of my father. This sport keeps me rooted. It keeps me grounded. It keeps me close to what my family is.”
