Tonight on NBC their obstacle course competition American Ninja Warrior returns with an all-new Monday, August 14, 2023, episode and we have your American Ninja Warrior recap below! In tonight’s American Ninja Warrior season 15 episode 10 called, “Semifinals 3 & 4,”as per the NBC synopsis,
“The semifinals continue in Los Angeles as the competing ninjas face up to six challenging obstacles and race head-to-head for a spot in the national finals.”
Tonight’s episode looks like it is going to be a great season 15, so be sure to tune in for our coverage of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior at 8 PM – 9 PM ET! While you wait for our American Ninja Warrior recap make sure to check out all our American Ninja Warrior news, spoilers, recaps & more!
Tonight’s American Ninja Warrior recap begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
Tonight, ANW episode, was the last night of the Semifinals. The Semifinals looked a bit different this year. The ninjas were directly competing against each other tonight. It also didn’t matter if they fell as long as they made it further on the course than their fellow ninja and so there were a lot of advantages with the new changes however there was one big disadvantage. There were less people making it into the next round. Up first on this much tougher course was Ana McArthur. She was going up against Madlyn Madaras.
They were both teenagers. Madlyn is on the smaller side. Anna was considered the longshot. Yet, these girls were evenly matched as they began their runs. Anna was faster while Madlyn was more strategic. Anna would go on to fall on Slingshot. Madlyn continued on and she hit the first buzzer of the night. Many thought this round would go to Anna. They were all surprised when itty bitty Madlyn pulled off an impressive win during her rookie season. And now the girl was going to Las Vegas for Stage 1.
Next up was Grant Kiningham. Grant has perhaps one of the coolest jobs known to man. He makes ice sculptures. He made one of Daniel Gil and Daniel loved it. Grant was a rookie. He was going up against four-time veteran, Isiah Wakeham. Isiah has made it as far as Stage 2 on a previous season. He really wanted to make it further this year only Grant was just a tad faster. They were neck and neck most of the face. It was only on the last obstacle that Grant picked up speed. Him being a few seconds faster won him a spot in Las Vegas when he became the second finisher of the night.
Not that Isiah was out of the race. There’s still a chance he can make it into the next round thanks in large to him being quick on his feet. He has to wait and see if he was fast enough to make it to the next round. After the guys had their race, it was a second battle of veteran vs rookie. Rookie Joseph Rouse was going up against the Alaskan Ninja. Otherwise known as Nick Hanson. Joseph was learning about robotics in high school while Nick was the new father to a baby boy and a new husband to his wife.
It had been clear from the onset that Nick has let his new additions slow him down. He wasn’t as fast as Joseph. He was taking extra breaths between the obstacles and both he and Joseph fell on the same obstacles. Joseph got there first. The win instantly became his. Joseph was going to Vegas and Nick might have to incorporate the baby in his ninja workouts. Nick still congratulated Joseph after his fall. And it always good to see him, but the next battle was a true test of equals amongst veterans.
It was Abel Gonzalez vs Karsten “Big Cat” Williams. They’ve both been doing this for nine years. Only the Big Cat was older as well as twenty pounds heavier. He was known as the Big Cat for a reason after all. He used his long length to speed through the course and his speed paid off. He hit the buzzer while Abel was still considering strategy. Abel intentionally slowed down because he hadn’t wanted to fall. He thought he could still get to Vegas if he took his time and unfortunately he went on to fall. And that meant he wasn’t moving on even for a non-finisher.
Isabella Wakeham went next. She was up against Sandy Zimmerman. They were two of the top women competitors and Isbaella had a shocking fall. She was moving much too fast. She fell and Sandy continued on. Sandy ended up falling further on the course. She was still going to Vegas and she was the oldest female competitor to do so. She was also one of the few moms on the course tonight. There were several races during the commercial break after that. Some became finishers and others had to wait and see how well they did compared to everyone else.
Next up was TikTock star Simba Jones vs aspiring actor Cal Plohoros. Cal had more experience on top of more muscles. This was no true match because right away it was clear that Cal was dominating and he ended up lasting longer on the course than Simba did. Thereby certifying his place in Vegas. Clarissa Morris had her run next. She went up against Cailin Jewell. It was the battle of Spokane. They were both from that area and they both trained with Sandy Zimmerman. The ladies were even friends.
They all worked out on Sandy’s homemade Ninja gym in her backyard. They were evenly matched and they started out their runs tonight on equal footing. It was only as the race went on that Clarissa started to pull out ahead. The Bicep Babe was given her nickname for her tremendous muscles. She’s been doing this a little longer than Cailin and she held on after Cailin fell. Clarissa would go on to fall further on the course only she was so happy to be going to Vegas with Sandy that none could dent her joy.
The ladies continued on with the battle of the best stage name. Barclay Stockett known as “the Sparkly Ninja” was up against rookie Rachel “No Brakes” Brown. Rachel started out faster. Only Barclay quickly caught up to her. Barclay gained speed. She outran Rachel and she lasted longer than Rachel. Rachel fell. Barclay tried to keep going for her first buzzer and sadly she fell on the second to last obstacle. She was still going to Vegas. It’s just that buzzer continues to allude her.
The speed demon formerly known as Daniel Gil was up next. He ran against Gary Weiland. Gary was older. He only made it to the Semifinals by winning in the Runoffs and he was running with a prosthetic leg. Gary’s got heart. There’s no doubt about that. He just never had a hope against Daniel. Then a miracle happened. Daniel fell before finishing the course. A first for him. It gave Gary a chance to finish at his own time and it would have been one of the most shocking victories in the history of the show if he hadn’t fallen before he could defeat Daniel’s time.
Daniel was going to Vegas. He missed out on the Safety Pass this year. The two ninjas that ran for that pass in the first hour were Vance Walker and Isiah Thomas. They were close throughout until the final obstacle where Vance beat Isiah by two tenths of a second. But the night was far from over. There was a second hour that was filled with even more ninja favorites. Up next was Enzo DeFerrari Wilson against Kyle Schulze. Kyle has been doing this longer than Enzo only Enzo has hit a lot more buzzers than Kyle.
Kyle suffered a fall on the course. Enzo continued on. He hit another buzzer for his third straight year. He was going back to Vegas. Next up was Johnny Brown vs Flip Rodriguez. Flip was a thirteen year veteran. He was coming off his best season to date and he was more motivated than ever now that he was directly competing against someone. Johnny on the other hand kept pace with Flip. Johnny was known for his TikTok videos of the Flying Squirrel. He was showing tonight how adept he was as a ninja and if he hadn’t fallen then odds are might have overtaken one of the original speed demons.
Nacssa Garemore was up next. He ran against Isaiah Lee. They were both teenagers. Nacssa was adopted from Africa with his brother, Roberto. Isaiah meanwhile was blind in one year because he developed a tumor as a kid and it required surgery to remove it. Both of them turned to Ninja as a means of adapting. Nacssa was turning into a speed demon himself he was so fast. He went on to hit a buzzer and then he turned around and cheered for Isaiah. He was hoping Isaiah would become one of the fastest non-finishers. And sadly that’s at risk because Isaiah fell on the second to last obstacle.
It was also at risk because Nacssa’s brother, Roberto. Roberto had his run next. Roberto was up against Elijah “the Boss” Browning. They were neck and neck right up until Roberto fell and Elijah finished with the fastest time so far. He even beat out Nacssa’s time. Roberto speed however still gave him a chance at Vegas. He has to wait and see. Much like Isaiah. Elijah’s time was eventually beaten by RJ Roman during the commercial break. Next up was Brandon Thomas vs Brett Sims. Brett has competed on every season on ANW.
He has a tattoo for every season he’s performed. Only he was no match for rookie Brandon. Brandon was quicker to the buzzer and, while Brett Sims still completed the race, he has to wait till the end to see if he made it to the next round. Then came the race of the sisters-in-law. Ashley Bergstrom and Caitlyn Bergstrom-Wright competed against each other. They train together. They were bridesmaids at each other’s weddings. This race was a tough one. Their husbands had both raced earlier and were both going to Vegas.
With this race, only one could go to Vegas. They were evenly matched through most of it. Then, both of them fell on Slingshot. Ashley was the first to the obstacle and so it will be Ashley going to Vegas tonight. Ashley and her husband Caleb were the first husband and wife duo going to Stage 1 ever. Jessie Graff vs Jalessa Himka was next. Jessie was a stuntwoman and also veteran of the show. Jalessa was a high schooler as well as rookie. Jalessa looks up to Jessie and now they’re competing against each other. And the race ended up going to Jalessa because Jessie fell on Sideways.
Sideways remains her downfall.
RJ Roman and Elijah Browning competed for the final Safety Pass of the night. But it was no true competition. RJ the Rocker Roman sped through the course that it barely looked like he touched them and so of course the Safety Pass went to him.
THE END!
