LEWISTON — Three years ago, Lucas Nichols was working alongside his father, Christopher, delivering packages for Federal Express. They began targeting businesses along their routes, looking for something they might be interested in as they dreamed of starting a family business.

“One morning after a date with my stepmom, my dad was so excited to tell me about how much fun throwing an ax was,” Nichols said Monday afternoon at their business, Splittin’ Wood Axe Throwing, in the Lewiston Mall off East Avenue in Lewiston.

Nichols, his father, stepmom, brother and sister all have a hand in the business.

“When we were tossing around ideas driving around, looking for a business we could get into, we felt it was important to do something that would improve our community and offer something for people to do while making money. When we started seriously considering opening the ax throwing business, we felt it would add something new and exciting to do in the area, and it was fun to do ourselves, so we went with it,” Nichols said.

Early on, Nichols realized he was a natural for the sport. “I finally found something I was better at than my dad. That’s when I decided I’d try to take it to another level.”

Nichols started competing in local and then regional leagues and tournaments. Today, he is the first and only professional in Maine and has his sights set on qualifying for the world championships in April 2024. The top 64 get an automatic “ticket” to the event. Nichols is ranked 89th in the world.

The World Axe Throwing League has hundreds of member locations. The only official site in Maine is The Axe Pit in Westbrook. Nichols has thrown there while competing and building up his score and fulfilling the required number of matches at sanctioned events or leagues.

“It’s kinda complicated how they determine the rankings but it’s basically your average of tournament or league play,” he said. “While there are lots of leagues, the real draws are marathon tournaments where players compete in 28 games in one day. Each player throws 10 times per game.”

While training for the big stage, Nichols said he has used his job as an instructor at the family business to help him hone his skills.

“I learn from everyone I work with, even people who have never thrown an ax before,” Nichols said. “But the bottom line is the best players throw with little effort. It’s just smooth and practiced. I use my knuckle to aim with and then it’s just the way you lean, flick the wrist and release that has to be consistent. It’s kind of like throwing darts.”

While Nichols hopes to someday compete on the world stage, he has already hit a bull’s-eye locally with their family business, but would love a big trophy to display in their window and the prize money that goes with it would be the kill shot, he said.

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