WAUSAU, Wis. — If you ask John Doepke about the ol’ battle-axe, he’ll admit it was a rough relationship at the beginning.

“Just the challenge of first getting it to stick at all,’’ said Doepke.

Doepke is a world-class axe thrower. Where’d you think we were going with this?

“I just came here to try it once, and just fell in love with it,” said Doepke on a sun-splashed afternoon inside Blades & Boards, a local axe throwing facility.

At the U.S. Open earlier this summer in Minneapolis, Doepke finished second in Big Axe and was fourth in Standard Hatchet. Now he’s preparing for the World Axe and Knife Throwing Championships, which are coming to the Fox Cities Exhibition Center in Appleton from Dec. 1-4. ESPN 2 will broadcast Sunday’s finals.

Axe throwing is the new bowling (think skill, camaraderie and beer consumption) or the new curling (think skill, camaraderie and beer consumption).

The World Axe Throwing League, which is co-hosting this event, is the largest of the three main axe throwing organizations. It organizes events in 18 countries across six continents with over 4,000 axe throwers competing.

“The customers are super excited and the fans are super excited to come watch the team compete,” said Rachel Rowell, the owner of Blades & Boards, who also has locations in Green Bay and Oshkosh.

Throwers qualify for the world championships, based on a points system, in four categories: Big Axe, Standard Hatchet, Duals (where two people from the same team throw at the same target at the same time) and Knife.

Matt Ten Haken, director of sports marketing at the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the estimated economic impact of hosting the championships will be about $500,000 in direct visitor spending. He said about 1,000 spectators will be allowed in the exhibition center the first three days, and about 500 for the televised finals.

“People in the community are intrigued by this event,” Ten Haken said. “It’s so unique in terms of what the competition is all about. Being an event that will bring people to the community internationally is exciting.

John Doepke will compete in the World Axe and Knife Throwing Championships in Appleton, Wis. this December. (Spectrum News 1/Mike Woods)

“And obviously, being on ESPN should help us bring future events.”

This will be Doepke’s third appearance at the world championships. He said it took him about three years to reach a world-class level, and it isn’t easy as it used to be.

“We used to have much bigger bull’s-eyes,” he said. “Now we have the inch-and-a-half diameter. Just because everybody is the sport is getting more accurate, so we’re making it more difficult.”

Even though the world championships are three months out, his preparation centers on just one thing.

“At this point, just mental preparation,’’ said Doepke, an IT engineer. “If you can hit one bull’s-eye, you can hit 10 of them, or 20. You have the physical skills, you just have to be able to focus no matter what else is going on around you.

“Every time I practice, it’s with a purpose. It’s more about practicing every throw as if it was on ESPN.”

For good reason, as there is $50,000 in total prize money at stake.

For a guy who started out just trying to get his axe to stick in the wood target, competing for a nice chunk of money on national television was something he never saw coming.

“The first few tournaments I went to there were a lot of nerves,” Doepke said. “I’d be getting ready to throw and I could tell my hand was shaking. It’s a lot less now that I’ve been to so many tournaments.

“And a lot of it before was, ‘I’m facing what I know is one of the top throwers in the world. How am I going to be able to compete?’ Now I know I can compete with these guys.

“And I’ve been on ESPN, which is a little unique.”

Story idea? You can reach Mike Woods at 920-246-6321 or at: michael.t.woods1@charter.com

Sept. 14 Editor's Note: The spelling of John Doepke's last name has been corrected.