After eight years in business, Columbus-founded Dueling Axes has closed all of its locations, including three here in Central Ohio.
The axe-throwing and sports bar company permanently closed on July 31, bringing an end to a business that started with a single Downtown Columbus location in 2018 and eventually expanded to five locations across three states.
Founders Jess Hellmich and Paul Sherry launched Dueling Axes Downtown before opening a second Central Ohio location near New Albany. The company expanded to Las Vegas in December 2020, then returned to the Columbus area with a Grove City location in July 2025. A Cincinnati location opened the following month.
The company has said the closures were caused by circumstances outside of its control, but hasn’t provided additional details.
Over its eight years in business, Dueling Axes became a gathering place as much as an axe range. Its locations hosted wedding parties, anniversaries, retirements, birthday celebrations and other group events, and the company described its community response across its different markets as strong.
There is one piece of Dueling Axes that will stick around.
The company’s mobile axe-throwing unit was purchased by Square Canvas, a Canal Winchester art studio that already operates a mobile axe-throwing and splatter-paint setup called Axes and Easels.
Square Canvas plans to rebrand the four-lane Dueling Axes unit and add it to its existing mobile operations. The units can be rented for private events and will also appear at festivals and other events around Central Ohio.
So you may still see some familiar Dueling Axes equipment around town, even though the company’s brick-and-mortar locations are now closed.
