Jasper native has axe throwing world championship in sight

Jasper native Kyle Rickenbaugh will be putting his axe throwing skills up against some of the best throwers in the world in the upcoming world championship being held in Atlanta, Georgia.

The co-owner of Plaid & Timber Axe Throwing Company will be part of a group of competitors that includes his wife, Amanda, his business partner, Adam James, and employee, Josh Edlin, as well as Abel Slinker and Eyan Childress, who compete in the league hosted at the Evansville business. They each beat out thousands of competitors from 23 different countries to be among the top 128 urban axe throwers that earned a spot in the 2020 Signarama World Axe Throwing Championship.

The championship event features three categories of competition: Standard Hatchet — Axes between 12 and 19 inches thrown from 12 feet away; Big Axe — Axes longer than 23 inches thrown from 17 feet away; Duals — Teams of two throwing a hatchet at the same target at the same time from 12 feet away.

Amanda, Abel, and Eyan will all compete in Duals, while Kyle, Adam, and Josh will compete in Standard Hatchet.

Kyle started throwing in March of 2019 when he put up a target in his garage. He fell in love with the sport and a few months later in November of 2019, he and Adam opened Plaid & Timber Axe Throwing Company. They are affiliated with the World Axe Throwing League which includes 330 axe-throwing venues around the world.

“I took it up as a hobby as I have been into throwing knives, hunting, and other outdoor activities since I was a kid,” he said. “I played just about every sport growing up and in high school, and the biggest thing that translates from organized sports to axe throwing is the discipline.”

The 2008 Jasper High School graduate qualified by placing 13th in the world in Standard Hatchet this past season. For Duals, he and his throwing partner, Steve Middleton of Indianapolis, qualified for the world championship by placing third in the Angrywood Open in Tulsa, Oklahoma in October where they competed against 60 other teams.

Besides the world championship slots available from tournaments, throwers could also qualify through scores in locally sanctioned competitions. Due to Covid-19, a certain number of slots at the championships were also made available for throwers who couldn’t compete in tournaments or league events. They could send in a video of their throwing skills to be judged and potentially selected for 64 of the championship slots.

Kyle’s wife, Amanda, is one of three women in the world who qualified for the world championships. She and her throwing partner, Abel, were able to qualify in the World Axe Throwing League through these local competitions.

Amanda took up the sport late last year when Kyle and Adam opened Plaid & Timber on Evansville’s east side.

“She really got interested and threw in our first league last winter,” Kyle said. “Then, when we were shut down from March through about June, she threw every day and really improved a ton.”

Kyle has competed in two other tournaments this year is looking forward to competing in the world championship.

The winner of the event will receive $25,000 and a personalized trophy. The competition offers about $50,000 in prize money with $25,000 as the grand prize.

The world championship begins this Friday and you can watch Sunday’s championship rounds on ESPN3 or stream it on ESPN+.