As the World Axe and Knife Throwing Championship (WAKTC) approaches, two of Burlington’s passionate throwing athletes are hoping to bring home top prizes.
Mike Morton and Tristan Ledbury, who both throw out of and represent Bad Axe Throwing at 2388 Fairview St., will be competing against some of the best axe and knife throwing athletes in the world when the WAKTC takes place in Wisconsin from April 3 to 6.
Morton and Ledbury have both been throwing for years in the World Axe Throwing League and World Knife Throwing League, and quickly found passion for the sport after trying it out for the first time.
“I didn’t have any kind of extracurricular sport or hobby,” Ledbury said. “I was so focused on work for so long. Someone brought me in here once and said I should just try it. I did try it, and I’ve been throwing for five years since then and have never missed a league.”
Ledbury and Morton both take part in the big axe discipline for tournaments and league play, and Morton also competes in the knife discipline. Morton recently placed in the top 13 in the big axe and knife disciplines in last year’s largest tournament.
One of the things that sets throwing sports apart from other athletics is the ease at which nearly anyone can take part and enjoy it.
“It’s accessible,” Morton said. “Anybody can do it, absolutely anybody. We have people in the league who are eight years old and throwing, we’ve had people in wheelchairs throwing, we have all genders, sexualities, race, everything. When someone comes through that door, they’re welcome.”
Despite the World Axe Throwing League including around 15,000 people from around the world, Ledbury hopes to land close to the top at one of the first major tournaments of the year.
“I want to win the whole thing,” he said. “That’s always the goal. You get better at saying ‘I did this, this was my progress, I only lost here, I won this many,’ and things like that, but for me, I want to win it all. I would settle for just being on ESPN, though, I think the world is ready for me on TV.”
Both Morton and Ledbury are also co-founders and board members of Throwing it Forward, a non-profit group that raises money for throwing sports and competitors around the world. During the pandemic, the pair took part in a quarantine axe throwing league where they would use video calling to set up matches around the world. During that time, they found out that someone from the league had lost their son in a car crash and decided to donate the money they had raised through the quarantine league to that family. Wanting to do more to support the community they had become a part of, they created Throwing it Forward to help to support anyone who is struggling to afford or access any throwing sports, from axes and knives to disc golf.
“Come in and join us,” Morton said. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve ever picked up an axe before, we’ll get you throwing and we’ll get you landing that axe on target and having fun. It’s a really welcoming environment, there are no stereotypes here. You can be yourself and you’re going to be very welcome here.”
Morton is hoping that the team will be able to find sponsors sometime soon in order to help cover the costs of attending tournaments.
“As accessible as this sport is, it’s expensive,” Morton said. “To do the travelling and competing that we do, we have to look for sponsors. We have a lot of different kinds of sponsorships available, just reach out and we’ll find something that fits. We're really looking for partners that we can expose our demographic to as much as they can help us with the finances.”
Nearly 400 people will be competing for part of the $65,000 prize pool at the WAKTC this April.
