Making the Cut
Recent Orfalea College of Business graduate Nate Mirizzi chops wood during his final logging competition. (Photo: Andy Sherar)
Balanced atop a 12-inch wood block, Nate Mirizzi drives an axe down repeatedly, digging a triangle in the center of the log.
“The better you hit your lines, with strength and good hits, the faster that block is gonna split,” he says, watching a replay of his performance a few days later.
After about 20 chops, Mirizzi delivers a final blow near his right foot, and the block splits in two, delivering Mirizzi a heat victory in the recent Cal Poly Loggers competition.
“I went through the block a lot quicker than I thought I was going to,” he says, offering a quick post-competition review.
Nate Mirizzi, like his fellow Cal Poly Loggers, competed in several events, including this buck saw contest.
“I went through the block a lot quicker than I thought I was going to,” he says, offering a quick post-competition review.
Cal Poly Loggers is an intercollegiate team of male and female students involved in traditional forestry field skills. Students on the team compete in various events, including the speed axe chop; axe throwing; tree climbing; sawing events and more.
Not surprisingly, the team is largely represented by forestry students.
Mirizzi was the only business student.
“I didn’t grow up around this,” he said.
While he was raised in the San Jose suburbs, his family did appreciate the outdoors, often taking fly fishing trips to Lake Tahoe. Yet, that didn’t influence his choice of college major.
“I knew I wanted to do finance,” he said. “I like numbers, and I’m good at numbers.”
While he concentrated on accounting, his early friendships at Cal Poly were with students in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. He even took a job with Ag Operations, working with compost.
On a recent weekday, Mirizzi appeared for an interview wearing dirty jeans, a dusty cap, and well-worn work boots. Having just left Ag Ops, he had no time to change before his next business class.
“I have to go to class like this every day because I work every day,” he says, gesturing at his outfit. “And every time I walk into class, everyone’s, like, ‘Who is this guy?’”
During the pandemic, Mirizzi remained on campus and struck up a friendship with a past Logger president. The president eventually let him try out some of the logging activities.
Nate Mirizzi prepares to mark his future chops during a recent competition with the Cal Poly Loggers. (Photo: Andy Sherar)
Mirizzi was hooked. And eventually, he joined the club, showing up for practice every Friday, throwing axes, sawing wood and burying an axe.
“It’s a great stress relief,” said Mirizzi, whose retro mustache adds a touch of mountaineer style. “On top of hitting wood with whatever object of your choice, going out to practice is relaxing. Your friends are there, and it’s a blast.”
The team competes against other schools about four times a year, and members become friends with loggers from other schools, he said.
“They talk about forestry a lot,” Mirizzi said of his fellow loggers. “And I’ve learned a lot from talking to them.”
Despite his love of the outdoors and his forestry friendships, he remained passionate about accounting. He was particularly inspired by lecturer Tim Ridout’s intro to financial accounting course.
“His class was engaging,” Mirizzi said. “It was great to learn in that class.”
Ridout, a popular teacher among students, credited Mirizzi’s work-play balance.
“It’s great to hear that Nate was drawn to outdoor activities that were distinct from his business studies and yet remained enthusiastic about accounting and his broader education,” Ridout said. “He found a competitive outlet, a nice work-play balance that obviously helped him have the mindset to succeed here, earn his degree, and be well-rounded.”
Nate Mirizzi won this heat in the speed axe chop. (Photo: Nicki Fowler)
The recent competition at Cal Poly was bittersweet for Mirizzi. Just days afterward, Mirizzi took his final class before graduation. So that competition, which Cal Poly won, besting teams from across California and Arizona, marked his last.
In January, he begins a job in Dallas with Moss Adams, a century-old accounting firm. The job was offered to Mirizzi in the fall of 2021, after he interned there.
He hopes to return to Cal Poly Loggers as an alumni next year.
“I’ll definitely find my way out here,” he said. “It was such an important part of my college experience.’
Before he heads to his final class, Mirizzi lifts a cattle brand he brought — a going-away gift his co-workers had just presented him — and reveals his ultimate dream: to own a cattle ranch.
The steel brand features the letter “M” – for “Mirizzi.”
“Hopefully, one day, I’ll have my own herd,” he said.
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