World Knife Throwing League
Sporting organization for knife throwing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The World Knife Throwing League (WKTL) is a sports organization that hopes to be the ruling body for commercial knife throwing venues.[1]
 | |
| Sport | Knife throwing |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 2021 |
| First season | Spring 2021 |
| Commissioner | Evan Walters |
| Countries | 5 |
Most recent champion | Shane Funke |
| Website | worldknifethrowingleague |
WKTL was founded in 2021 as a sister league to the World Axe Throwing League by venue representatives from Canada, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. It has 5 knife-throwing nations with membership. Members include over 30 member companies (affiliates). It organizes international tournament events such as the U.S. Open and, most notably, the World Knife Throwing Championship.
It also appoints judges who officiate at all sanctioned leagues and tournaments. It promotes the WKTL Code of Conduct, which sets professional standards of discipline for knife throwing in commercial venues.
Scoring
Scoring is a match system where ten knives are thrown per match. The player with the highest points of their ten thrown knives wins the match. In case of a tie, a "Sudden Death" throw is made for the highest score. Sudden death throws are done until one thrower scores higher than the other. Scoring is determined by where the knife hits the target. The WKTL targets have a red bullseye, followed by five empty rings. The scoring is 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point respectively. Additionally, there are blue dots in the 1 point ring, known as "Kill-shot," and be hit twice per match for 8 points. [clarification needed] Point scoring is based on the highest point value the knife touches when it lands and sticks.
Tournaments
In 2021 WKTL started working on a tournament format to help include any throwers who could not regularly participate in the WKTL knife throwing seasons. The first official WKTL tournament is the 2021 US Open Tournament. This is also the first knife throwing tournament to be featured on ESPN[2][3]
| Year | Champion | Location | 2nd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Travis Blank |  Atlanta, Georgia |
Michael Dixon |
| 2022 | Lucas Johnson | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Austin Bock |
In 2023 the World Knife Throwing League discontinued the U.S Open in favor of re-branding it as the Pro-Am Championship. This tournament was made to highlight professional throwers as well as amateur ones, in addition to introducing many new styles of gameplay for axe and knife throwing, known as the Skills Challenges.
| Year | Pro-Am Knife Champion | Location | 2nd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Sebastian Arnold | Appleton, Wisconsin | Thomas Antoniello |
Championship
The World Knife Throwing Championship (for commercial venues) takes place once per year. The format has slight changes from year to year, announced before the beginning of the yearly competition.[4][5]
| Competition Year | World Champion | Location Represented | Country | 2nd Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Mike Philabaum | Mountainman Axe throwing | USA |
Shane Shepard |
| 2022 | Mike Kump | Angry Axe | USA |
Tony Luce |
| 2023 | Lucas Johnson | Murfreesboro Axe throwing | USA |
Sebastian Arnold |
| 2024 | Coleman Bates | Throw Nation | USA |
Lucas Johnson |
| 2025 | Shane Funke | Ironside Axe Club | USA |
Eli Morton |
Knife Duals
In 2024, the World Knife Throwing League added Knife Duals as an official discipline for competition in league and tournament play.
| Competition Year | World Champions | Country | 2nd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Thomas Antoniello & Sebastian Arnold | USA |
Kinson Michel & Mat Ball |
| 2025 | Colbe Pudell & Louie Perkins | USA |
Dylan Teets & Jeb Bisset |
International Knife Throwing Day
This day (8th of September) was created by the World Knife Throwing League to celebrate, raise awareness and unify the sport of knife throwing. Though primarily celebrated with affiliates in the WKTL, it is also celebrated by anyone with a passion for the sport around the world.[6]
History
2021
- The founding of WKTL.
- The founding of International Knife Throwing Day (June 13th).
- Evan Walters is announced as the Commissioner of WKTL.
- Inaugural representatives from 3 countries joined the WKTL. From the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
- The first World Knife Throwing Championship is held at the historic country music honky tonk, Billy Bob's Texas.[7]
2022
- The WKTL releases over a dozen new knives.
- WKTL and Toro Knives partnered to create league-approved knives.
- WKTL publishes a list of pre-approved knives for competition.
- The inaugural WKTC Awards are created featuring Thrower Awards, Venue Awards, and Commissioner's Choice Awards.
2023
- The WKTL forms an advisory volunteer council made up of throwers and venue owners to help "shape the future of the sport".
- The first Pro-Am Championship is held hosting professional and amateur throwers.
- The first venue in Poland is introduced. Bringing the total number of countries to 4 with WKTL members
2024
- The WKTL introduced Duals as an official discipline. Where teams of two throw together.
- A venue in Mexico joins as the first WKTL member in the country bringing the total number of countries with WKTL representatives to 5.
Commissioners
The Commissioner of WKTL heads the direction of the World Knife Throwing League and manages the sport.[8]
| Years Active | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 - Present | Evan Walters |  United States |
WKTL Members Around the World
| Country | Region | Admitted | No. of Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States of America |
North America | 2021 | 50+ |
 Canada |
North America | 2021 | 20+ |
 United Kingdom |
Europe | 2021 | 1 |
 Poland |
Europe | 2023 | 1 |
 Mexico |
North America | 2024 | 1 |