BRANSON, Mo. — Wide World of Sports would love the recipe coming together in the Stihl TimberSports Championship. There's a showdown between the top two competitors in the world, an American quietly working to unseat them, and the agony of defeat is already in the mix.

Since the beginning of the Stihl TimberSports Series the competition has centered on two lumberjacks: Jason Wynyard, standing in at 6 foot, 4 inches and weighing in around 275 pounds, and Dave Bolstad, 6 foot 4 inches and weighing "just a biscuit under 300 pounds." Those two, along with 10 other lumberjacks, complete the field in a competition that will crown the world champion of lumberjacks.

Of those 10, at least one, Matt Bush of Croghan, N.Y., appears to be poised to unseat the giants of the sport. Bush is the number-three qualifier who led the American contingent with a gold medal in the Men's Endurance event at the Great Outdoor Games. More recently Bush has posted amazing times in the sawing events of the Stihl TimberSports Series, including a world record in the Hot Saw competition.

"Bush has been on a tear, and you've got to believe Wynyard and Bolstad are looking over their shoulder,'' said John Hughes, ESPN Timber analyst.

Bush has steadily become quicker and more consistent with each competition, and a win in the championship wouldn't be a total surprise. He won the championship in 1996, but since the emergence of Wynyard and Bolstad he has taken a back seat to the New Zealanders.

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Whether Bush can mount a charge back to the front could hinge on what happened in the Standing Block Chop in the final day of qualifying at the TimberSports Series event in Oshkosh, Wisc.

In that event, Arden Cogar, Jr. slipped on a small wood chip while moving around the block and fell into the brace holding the log. At the time, it looked fairly harmless, but since then Cogar's arm and shoulder have been placed in a cast, forcing him to withdraw from the competition.

Mike Sullivan, the 13th-place qualifier, will compete in his place. The absence of Cogar — and the presence of Sullivan — is expected to change the dynamics of the overall competition.

In the Stihl TimberSports Series, a total of 26 lumberjacks compete in six events — three sawing events and three chopping events. For two days leading up to the finals, each of the competitors qualifies for the individual events. Depending on how well they do cutting or chopping in the qualifiers, they may compete in all six, or just a few to garner points in the finals.

At the Championship, though, there are no qualifying days, and the 12 competitors must compete in all of the events. Like a track meet, the lumberjack with the most points at the end of the day wins.

With Cogar, one of the top woodchoppers in the world, absent from the competition and Sullivan, a top sawyer, in the event the point structure will certainly change.

And where it can change the most is between Wynyard and Bolstad. Both of the lumberjacks are exceptional in each of the disciplines — chopping and sawing. But Wynyard excels in sawing, while Bolstad is the king of the chopping events.

Wynyard has led throughout the series, but with Sullivan in the mix things between Wynyard and Bolstad should even out. And with Bush making strides in both disciplines, the door is open for an upset.

"At this level anything can happen,'' Hughes said. "Every lumberjack here is capable of winning.

"If anything, last year proved that there can't really be a sure thing.''

In that event, Bolstad of Taumarunui, New Zealand won the title, virtually walking away with the championship after winning four of the six events. In the four years preceding that contest, Wynyard of Auckland, New Zealand was the undisputed champion, having won four straight TimberSports championships.

That upset set up the head-to-head battles between the two that have defined the sport this year.

The competition in the championship begins at noon Saturday at Silver Dollar City in Branson,