For most people, ax throwing is a novel date night. For Eli Morton, a 22-year-old from Claremore, it’s an obsession.
Morton will join hundreds of the best ax and knife throwers at the World Axe and Knife Throwing Championships (WAKTC) at WeStreet Ice Center Thursday through Sunday.
Morton recognizes the advantage he holds over other throwers — not only with this year’s world championships being hosted 30 minutes away from his hometown, but he is also an employee at WeStreet.
“I’m literally just going to work, so I have a competitive advantage,” Morton said, sitting on a wooden stool at A&R Axe Throwing around 6:45 a.m. Monday morning. “I’m just excited.”
‘One person wins. Everyone else loses.’
It’s not the first time Morton’s competed professionally at the facility. His first participation in the WAKTC was also hosted at WeStreet in 2024. He said a large reason he took the job at the facility is because a friend let him know it was hosting the world championships.
“I started working there, and then that was my very first championship ever, which was very cool and convenient,” Morton said. “I didn’t do very well, but it was my first one. So it was, you know, just for the experience.”
In 2024, he tied for 25th out of 262 competitors — just more than two years after he started throwing. At the 2025 WAKTC in Appleton, Wisconsin, Morton said he fell short of his own expectations.
“I did not do good at all. I set my expectations way too high, and then when I didn’t fulfill them, I just didn’t do well. I was very sad,” Morton said. “I was a little embarrassed because I thought I was going to do so well. But this year, I’m a lot more mellow. I feel a lot less obligated to do well, because it’s here.”
Despite holding himself to humble expectations this year, Morton said fellow ax throwers have texted him that he is the favorite to win the championship. This is the first WAKTC Morton has qualified for all three main events: hatchet, big ax and knife throwing.
“I am kind of starstruck by the improvements I’ve made just in the last year, but I still am not going to forget — like I did last year — that one person wins. Everybody else loses,” he said. “And I could get very close, but the odds of winning, even for the best thrower in the world, is very low.”
‘I don’t necessarily have a coach, but I do have a community.”
The Backyard Axe Throwing League was founded in Canada in 2006 in the CEO’s backyard. The sport grew in popularity as it made its way to the United States, Morton said, but the COVID-19 pandemic hindered the sport from further growth.
“It’s all kind of up and down, but I don’t think it’s going to go away. I’m not losing hope that it’ll stick around for a long time,” Morton said. “It’s just at what capacity it’ll be here, and whether or not there will be venues like this, or if it’ll be mostly in people’s backyards. Both are fine.”
While performance is top of mind for Morton come Thursday, he is cognizant of the worldwide ax-throwing community — and his place within it.
He first began throwing Dec. 5, 2021, he said, reciting the date from memory. He no longer wanted to work at Chick-Fil-A and found a job at Got Wood Axe Throwing in Claremore. After his first day on the job, his manager asked him if he would be interested in competing.
“Since then, I’ve just thrown,” Morton said. “It’s kind of all I do. I’m kind of boring.”
Morton referenced the work ethic of the late basketball icon Kobe Bryant.
“Kobe wakes up and plays basketball. Then, he goes to bed, wakes up again and plays more basketball,” Morton said. “I remember seeing that in high school, and I was like, ‘Man, that’s boring.’ Now I do that. I go to work, and then I come throw axes. I go to work again, then I come throw axes.”
He said he does not have a personal coach, but he has a number of friends who give him advice.
“I don’t necessarily have a coach, but I do have a community,” he said. “I try to contribute to that in the same way that people have contributed to me.”
Morton said the ax-throwing community is loving and accepting of others. He emphasized the need for sponsors at large tournaments and more eyes on the sport.
“It’s very encouraging whenever we have big events like the (world championships), because I’m reminded of how much people do like ax throwing,” he said. “It’s felt small recently, but the (world championships) always brings out everyone.”
Admission to this weekend’s tournament is free. Check out the full schedule below.
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