A video replay was required to determine the winner of his semi-final match up against Victorian chopper Laurence O'Toole, with the judges deciding O'Toole was the winner by just 0.21 seconds in the knockout style competition.

"I went really well, to tell you the truth. I think I was just really unlucky at the end there," De Losa said.

The day started well for De Losa, setting a time of 1:11.24 to place third in the time trial to receive a bye into the quarterfinal.

In that quarter final, De Losa came up against 2019 Australian Trophy runner-up Tasmanian Kody Steers. The New South Welshman defeated the Tasmanian by just under four seconds in a time of 1:13.78 to set up his semi-final with Laurence O'Toole, the reigning champion.

READ MORE: Lithgow's Brad De Losa to compete for Australian Champion title in St Kilda

The crowd were on their feet for the semi-final match up, with the pair jostling for the lead in all four of the wood chopping and sawing disciplines.

De Losa looked to have the edge over O'Toole in the last discipline, getting axe to the wood first in the standing block, however O'Toole came home with a wet sail, taking only five hits in the back side of the log to De Losa's six, to call for a video reply to determine the winner.

After an anxious wait and multiple angles, the nod went to O'Toole, leaving De Losa to battle it out in the 3rd place match-up against Mitchell Argent from Queensland, which he lost by just under five seconds.

"Going into the standing block in the lead, I stuck with my pattern of eight hits in the front of the log and six in the back, but Laurence being behind had to do something special and he did," De Losa said.

"It's always hard to take a loss when it's by such a small margin and to see him go on to win it, its sort of 'what could of have been'."

The Australian Trophy featured the 15 highest-ranking TIMBERSPORTS athletes in the country, who went head-to-head in a series of knockout match-ups.

In each match-up, athletes completed four disciplines back-to-back: Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block Chop.

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The fastest athlete from each match-up progressed to the next round, culminating in a grand final between the last two remaining competitors.

Thousands of spectators converged on the St Kilda Foreshore in Victoria to watch Australia's top Stihl Timbersports athletes battle it out with razor-sharp axes and high-powered chainsaws.

O'Toole's victory sees him win the top prize of $20,000 and the opportunity to represent Australia on the world stage, where he will compete against the world's best STIHL TIMBERSPORTS athletes from 12 countries including New Zealand, USA, Canada and Germany.

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