Tonight on NBC their obstacle course competition American Ninja Warrior returns with an all-new Monday, September 5, 2016 episode and we have your American Ninja Warrior recap below! On tonight’s “National Finals Week 2,” competition, we are in Las Vegas and the finalists tackle the first stage of a four-stage course modeled after the Mount Midoriyama course in Japan.
If you missed last week’s episode where the contestants tackled the first stage of a four-stage course we have a full & detailed American Ninja Warrior recap, right here for you!
On tonight’s episode as per the NBC synopsis, “The National Finals continues from Las Vegas, Nevada where the top competitors from the City Finals tackle the four-stage course. The remaining competitors will take on Stage One with four new obstacles Snake Run, Giant Log Grip, Broken Bridge and Flying Squirrel.”
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#AmericanNinjaWarrior is in Vegas for Week 2 of the National Finals. We start with a quick glance at how this year’s finals course compared to prior season. In Season 7, 38 Ninjas completed Stage 1. This year, with half of the competitors done, a paltry 8 made it through. We’ll see how it goes tonight.
Geoff Britten, Meagan Martin, Drew Dreschel, Joe Moravsky, Kacy Catanzaro and Jake Murray will all run tonight. The course tonight has Snake Run, the Propeller Bar, Giant Log Grip, Jumping Spider, Sonic Curve, the Warped Wall with the shorter runway, Broken Bridge and the Flying Squirrel.
First up is Kirsti Pratt aka #TheMachine. She makes it through the first two obstacles and heads for the Giant Log Grip. She kills it and moves to Jumping Spider but doesn’t get locked in when she jumps and falls into the water. Her feet didn’t get deep enough into the wall.
Eskimo Ninja feels the heat
Nick Hanson, the #EskimoNinja, is next. He quickly demolishes the first two obstacles and moves to Log Grip. Past that, he heads for the Jumping Spider. He slips but recovers and moves on. The Sonic Curve is no problem and runs right up the Warped Wall.
He’s got just 44 seconds left as he runs past Broken Bridge. Now he leaps onto the Flying Squirrel. The time runs out when he lands a little low on the net. He can’t make it there in time and misses hitting the buzzer by a second.
Brent Steffensen is next and we see a video about their break-up and he says it’s been rough on them but they are still friends, own a gym and are training partners. Kacy is there to support him tonight. We see a look back at him having the fastest Stage 1 run last season.
Brent is ready to run – Kacy cheers
Brent bounds past the first two obstacles and then he miscalculates on the landing and hits the water. That killed Jamie Rahn last week and many other veterans. Kacy is stunned. Brent says he rushed it and should have given it another beat.
Next is the oldest athlete to ever hit the national finals, 54-year old Jon Stewart. We see a look back at how little stuff cost in the year he was born. He flies over the first obstacle and then falls hard on the Propeller Bar. He just didn’t get a solid grip.
On the break, three more ran. Rookie Yuri Force ran on the break but also fell on the Propeller Bar. Eagle Scout Jackson Meyer fell right off the first obstacle after peacocking before his run. Rookie Clayton Wolf hit the water on the Log Grip.
Tallest Ninja runs and falls
Jon Alexis Jr, the biggest Ninja at 6’6” runs next and he’s through the first few obstacles and then he squeezes through the Jumping Spider with his wing span. He’s up the wall with 1:20 left on the clock. He trips leaving Broken Bridge but makes it.
Now he’s facing Flying Squirrel. He falls on the dismount – he looked a little dazed from his hard hit coming off the Bridge. He missed the handle with his left hand and went into the drink. Josh Levin is up next and he was the only finisher at the LA City Finals.
Josh interned at NASA last year – the kid is a rocket scientist. He hits the course at a run and makes quick work of the course up to the Wall and stumbles hard on the Broken Bridge. He’s got 41 seconds left. He hits the net with 15 seconds left and slaps the buzzer with 7 seconds left.
First finisher of the night
Rookie Josh Levin is the first finisher of the night. On the break, three more ran. Tiana Webberley went down on the Propeller Bar. Stroke survivor Grant Clinton fell hard on the first obstacle. Brett Simms just couldn’t get up the Warped Wall and was crushed.
Now it’s Jessell Boseman. The tall gymnast hops the steps and gets past the Propeller. He spiked the landing brilliantly off the Log Grip. He struggles a bit with the Spider but recovers and is sloppy on the Curve and recovers again.
He’s right up the Wall and headed for the back fo the course. He runs the Broken Bridge and tumbles over it. The Rookie hops onto the Squirrel but his time is running out. He falls on the transition and doesn’t grab the second swing.
Can the king keep his crown?
Mack Roesch has called himself #TheKingOfObstacles and runs with his crown on. He has a bit of an issue on the Propeller but recovers. He lands the Log Grip too and jumps into the Jumping Spider but just can’t stick and falls – but at least his crown stayed on!
Three more ran on the break. Anthony DeFranco bought it on the Jumping Spider. Andrew Lowes made it past the Spider but splashed down on Sonic Cure. Brittany Reid fell short on the Propeller and also went for a swim.
Next is Natalie Duran, the YouTube sensation. Her parents are there and have never seen her run before. She’s shorter and just splashes down on Propeller Bar. She’s the 16th to fall. Her launch went out too far and ended in a belly flop.
Rookie runs and nails it
Adam Rayl was a walk-on in LA. He runs right through the first three and heads for Jumping Spider and sticks it there solidly. A walk-on hasn’t finished a Vegas stage one in many seasons. He gets past Sonic Curve and then runs right up the Wall.
He faces Broken Bridge, tumbles past it and heads for the Squirrel with 33 seconds left. He nails the transition but time is running out. He lands kind of low and it’s a race against time. He pulls himself up with 10 seconds left and slaps the buzzer at just under 5 seconds.
Adam is the second finisher of the night and a rare walk-on to make such a sensational showing. His mom is thrilled and crying as she celebrates his accomplishment. The rookie walk-on says it feels amazing. His mom is crying and says he’s worked so hard. Stage 1 has 10 finishers so far.
Real Life Ninja has a really good run
Drew Dreschel is up next and #RealLifeNinja has kids from his junior Ninja gym there to cheer him on. Drew kicks it off with fast work on the first two obstacles and heads for Log Grip. He almost splashes down but recovers and has wet feet.
He is slipping in the Jumping Spider but makes quick work and touches down. He heads for Sonic Curve and runs up the Warped Wall. He is up and over with a little less than a minute as he faces Broken Bridge. He tumbles as he comes off and heads for the Flying Squirrel.
He’s got about 30 seconds left. He lands high on the net with 15 seconds left. He slaps the button with less than 8 seconds left. Drew will be a Stage 2 veteran after killing Stage 1. He showed off nicely for his Ninja students and is the eleventh finisher.
The Phoenix soars
Najee Richardson is up next and we see a look back at his roots in a troubled neighborhood and his parents put him in gymnastics to keep him away from gangs and other negative influences. Najee tears through the first two obstacles and heads for the Log Grip.
He nails the landing and runs on to the Jumping Spider. He sticks it and then is off and heading for Sonic Curve which takes him three times to get the landing. After the Wall, he falls hard on Broken Bridge but is up and moving.
He heads for the Squirrel, does an amazingly high jump onto the net and slaps the buzzer with 8 seconds left on the clock and will head again to Stage 2 of Vegas. The former gymnast had an impressive run and is the fourth finisher of tonight.
Meagan Martin runs and falls
On the break, Chris Workman fell short on the Propeller Bar. Eric Middleton ran too slow and splashed down on the last obstacle. Nicholas Coolidge was able to slap the buzzer and he’s the 13th finisher. Next up is rock climber Meagan Martin.
She’s hoping to keep up with Jessie Graff and complete stage one. Jessie is there cheering her on. This is her third time on Vegas Stage 1. She nails the first two obstacles and heads to the Log Grip. She slips and goes down missing the mat and the crowd is shocked.
Kacy and Jessie are stunned too. She didn’t get her legs locked in good and her grip strength gave out when the drops pulled her down. She knew she was in trouble as soon as the transition hit. Meagan says she didn’t have her legs squeezed in tightly enough.
Crazy Craver is next
Neil Craver is up next and his gold shorts are a glittery sight as he runs past the first two obstacles fast. He finished Stage 1 last year, but how will he do. On the Log Grip, he does a perfect landing and almost falls off stepping off of it.
He locks it in on the Jumping Spider and is burning up the course. He kills Sonic Curve and is up the Wall and over heading to Broken Bridge with a minute left on the clock. He trips and recovers and now faces the Flying Squirrel.
He nails the transition and has 30 seconds left. He lands kind of low on the net but climbs up fast and slaps the buzzer with 11 seconds left and that means he’s a finisher with a solid time.
Nick Kostreski times out
Nick is an aerodynamics engineer that builds wind tunnels and wants to prove a nerd can conquer Mt Midoriyama. He nails the first two obstacles and heads for the Log Grip. He nails a nice landing and moves on to the Jumping Spider. He flies through it.
The Sonic Curve goes well but he struggles to land and has a minute left as he runs and fails on the Warped Wall the first time. He goes over but only has 40 seconds left. He hits the first part of the Squirrel with 19 seconds left. He has 10 seconds left and lands on the net with 5 seconds.
He was a couple of seconds too late to slap the buzzer. Even though he completed it, he’s not a finisher at Stage 1. Bummer. He says at least I didn’t get wet.
Mighty Kacy strikes out
Kacy Catanzaro gets a hug from Brent Steffensen before she starts her run. She handles the first obstacle fine but makes the same mistake as last year and falls out on the Propeller Bar just like she did in 2015 at the Vegas finals.
Kacy says she’s bummed and says she progressed since last season but couldn’t get a grip and just flipped off. She says she’ll be back again next year. We get a look at Stage 2 and then three more ran on the break. Adam Arnold was mowed down by the Log Grip.
Little Carl Fantauzzo fell hard off the Sonic Curve. Ethan Swanson, another YouTube sensation, completed the course and slaps the buzzer so he’ll progress to Stage 2 in Vegas this year.
The Weather Man takes the course by storm
Weatherman Joe Moravsky is up next and he’s never failed to complete Stage 1 in Vegas – in fact he’s always been to Stage 3 the last three seasons. Joe talks about a tiny fan of his who had Stage IV cancer. He hung out with her at the gym and ran through a course with her before she lost her life.
Joe is past the first two and heads for the Log Grip. He sticks the landing and moves on to the Jumping Spider. He nails Sonic Curve and moves to the Wall. He’s up and over and heads for the Bridge with less than a minute left.
He falls and recovers and heads for the Squirrel with almost 40 seconds left. He’s on the second one but has 15 seconds left. He has less than 10 as he climbs up and over. He slaps the buzzer with four seconds left and for the fourth year in a row, he’ll move to Stage 2 in Vegas.
Ninja winner Geoff Britten runs and falls
Geoff Britten was the first Ninja to ever complete the Ninja Warrior Vegas Stage 3 course. Shockingly, he falls three steps into the course. He made history last year and this year, also made history with this major fall.
He laughed and says everyone falls and says this is Ninja Warrior. He takes the disappointment well and says he’s going to go home and be a good dad and husband. His daughter is bawling into her mom as he comes over to them.
This course has killed some great Ninja veterans. Next up is Jake Murray who is always a wild card. He leaps and pulls faces and Meagan Martin says he’s hysterical. Brian Arnold says he’s riot and Jessie Graff says he’s ridiculous.
Jake Murray and his fanny pack win the night
Jake starts his run as his Wolf Pack pals watch. He has on a fanny pack, turns it around and starts his run. He speeds through the first two and heads for the Log Grip. He sticks the landing and heads for the Jumping Spider. He locks in and speeds through.
He kills Sonic Curve and runs up the Warped Wall with plenty of time left and could take the fastest time. He ran past Broken Bridge and hops right onto the Squirrel. He’s up and over and slaps the buzzer with almost 35 seconds. He’s the fastest.
He opens the fanny pack, puts on some swim goggles. He also pulls out a corndog, takes a bite then leaps down into the water. Jake tells Christine he worked up an appetite on the course and needed the snack – he says it was 10 hours old.
Stage 1 ends with 17 finishers
Last year there were 38, this year there are 17 stage 1 finishers. The finishers that will move on to Stage 2 in Vegas are:
Jake Murray
Thomas Stillings
Daniel Gil
Brian Arnold
Jessie Graff
Neil Craver
Nicholas Coolridge
Chris Wilczewski
Najee Richardson
Drew Dreschel
Josh Levin
Grant McCartney
Flip Rodriguez
Adam Rayl
Joe Moravsky
Ethan Swanson
Michael Torres
THE END!
