Tonight’s on NBC American Ninja Warrior airs with an all-new Monday, August 11, 2025, season 17 episode 11 and we have your American Ninja Warrior recap below!
In tonights American Ninja Warrior season 17 episode 11 called, “Finals 2,” as per the NBC synopsis, “The finals continue in Las Vegas where elite ninjas in the country go head-to-head in high-stakes races with the fastest advancing in the competition.
Athletes will face six obstacles, including Pole Grasper, Floating Monkey Bars and Piston Plunge.”
Tonight’s episode looks like it is going to be a great season 17, so be sure to tune in for our coverage of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior at 8 PM – 10 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!
It was high stakes at the National Finals! The first week was full of surprises. Will tonight be any different? Up first was Lucas Reale vs Joe Morasvksy. The latter has hit more buzzers than anyone else in the history of ANW. The former was doing this for his students. He first entered a ninja gym on the day his dad died to suicide. He lost someone he loved and he gained a community in his grief. Both men were fathers now. They were role models. They also fell on the exact same obstacle. Lucas got there first and so he won this round. And remember this season the opposite sexes were racing against each other for the first time.
The next race was between Donovan Metoyer and Isabella Folsom. She was the strongest woman competitor this season. Only Donovan was known as the classy ninja. He ruins the obstacle course in a three piece suit. He left off the jacket tonight with his first race because that’s how much he respected Isabella. Isabella was a fierce ninja. They were racing against each other and Donovan made a critical mistake. He fell. Isabella surpassed him on the course. Thereby securing her victory, but she sadly didn’t make it all the way to the buzzer.
Kai Beckstrand vs Jessie Graff were up after the commercial break. Kai was a speed demon. Jessie was experienced. There’s almost twenty years between them. Kai’s speed came in handy because he was first to the buzzer. He easily won victory. Jessie kept on the course in the hopes of gaining experience with the obstacles. She fell on the final obstacle because she ran out of steam. Jessie was still one of the greats. Kai meanwhile has gained a name for himself. He’s been doing this for a few years now and seems unstoppable this season.
Jamie Rahn vs Ben Behrends. Jamie was the veteran. He was known as Captain NBC as his superhero persona with green hair. He faces off against a much younger teen. Ben seemed to have no issue with the obstacle course. Both would go on to finish the course. It was just Ben that got there a little quicker. Jamie got slowed down by one obstacle and he lost critical time that ultimately went to his opponent. Ben moved to the top of his group with two back to back wins. The show also brought back Kacey. Kacey helped pave the way for a lot of the women ninjas and remains legendary.
Jessie Graff vs Isabella Folsom was up next. Kacey stuck around to commentate on this battle of the greats. Both women were incredibly strong competitors. Isabella was faster at first. Jessie caught up to her. Isabella managed to get passed the obstacle that took her out on her first battle. She also waited for Jessie. The two women seemingly agreed they didn’t want there to be a big loss. They started the next obstacle the same time. Isabella dismounted first. She got to the buzzer first. And Jessie fell on the last obstacle before the buzzer.
Jason Behrends vs his big brother Ben Behrends was up next. The brothers were neck and neck for most of the race. Jason, as the younger and smaller brother, struggled with some of the obstacles. He won one race during the commercial break. Keeping up with his brother however has always been a struggle. Ben went for speed tonight. He’s won two races by then compared to his brother’s one. He knew the course just a little better. Ben pulled out ahead. He hit the buzzer first. Jason hit the buzzer second.
From their same group, it was Jamie Rahn vs Abby Clark next. Jamie struggled on one obstacle. It gave Abby the chance to catch up and then Jamie’s best feature gave out. He lost his grip strength. He fell in a shocking manner. It gave Abby the lead. She just had to hold on longer than he did and that’s what she did. She made it to the buzzer. She hit a buzzer tonight. She was evenly matched with both Jamie and Jason and so timing decided the winner. Jason was the fastest of the lot. He was moving onto the next round with his brother, Ben.
Joe Moravsky vs Jay “Lache” Lewis was next. Joe used to coach Jay. Jay was just a kid when Joe helped him. He taught him everything he knew. The two have also competed against each other once before and that was four years ago. Joe has had another kid since then. It’s been tougher to train. It showed tonight. Joe struggled with one of the obstacles and later suffered from a shocking fall. Jay Lewis won this round. He remained undefeated in his group. And Joe was ready to call it quits – he’s retiring after this season and he announced it tonight to spend more time with his family.
From their same group, Rachel Degutz vs Lucas Reale were next. Lucas started out strong. He later fell. It came down to Rachel. If she passed Joe’s time faster than he did, she was still in the running. Rachel took her time. She easily made it to her first buzzer of the night. She got the buzzer and just wasn’t as fast as Joe. Joe was still in the running for his final season. The weatherman was going to the next round. He might make it back to Stage 3 again and hopefully he won’t fall right at the end like last year.
Evan White vs Sam Folsom was the first group of the second half of the night. The course stayed the same, but plenty have suffered from shocking falls tonight. The two are friends. They hugged before as well after the race. One was the 45th Seed and the other was the 16th Seed. One would think the lower ranked would be slower and that wasn’t the case tonight. Evan quickly overtook Sam on the course. He made it to the buzzer first. He earned himself his first victory and its safe to say he was no longer 45th.
Karsten Williams vs Evan Lavalllee. The Big Cat was given the name for his tall frame only he might have been too big for the course tonight. He fell tonight. The race went to Evan. Evan tried to get another buzzer. He ended up falling on the last obstacle if not the last piece. Showing that even legends can be taken down. The next race was between Daniel Gill and Carter Ray. Daniel has made it to Stage 4 several times. He was even more motivated tonight now that he has a kid. Yet, Carter was keeping up.
Daniel recently wrote a book about his ten year ninja career. It was out now for those interested. Still, the book didn’t matter when he surprisingly fell tonight. He got lucky in the sense that Carter fell on the same obstacle and was slower to it than Daniel had been. It therefore made Daniel the winner, but knowing a fierce competitor like Daniel, he’ll come back stronger from near-defeat. Next up was Evan White vs Hans Hertz. These two were another great pair of friends and that was in spite of the great distance between their homes.
The two were evenly matched. They were practically neck and neck throughout most of the race until suddenly Hans pulled out ahead for a bit. Evan quickly caught back up. Then it was Evan’s turn to surpass his buddy. Hans soon caught back up. The two dismounted on the final obstacle less than a second from each other. It was that mere second that determined that Evan was the winner of this round. Luckily, there was no bad blood. They hugged it out afterwards.
Bray Weinacker vs Sam Folsom were next. Bray was a rookie this season. He hit a buzzer on his first try. He was known as surfing Tarzan for his long flowing mane. He was also taller than Sam. What Sam had in his corner was plain old experience. Sam was faster. He made it to the buzzer and wont his round. Bray unfortunately fell. He was apparently was made for water and so unto water he returned. Evan Lavallee vs Daniel Gill. Evan was a little quicker to the obstacles than Daniel was. Not that Daniel wasn’t right behind him.
Evan won this round by a second. The curse of a new kid strikes again. Daniel hasn’t been the speed demon he’s known for being and it worked against him tonight. The next and final match up was Sam Folsom vs Hans Hertz. It was a tight race, but that ginger Hans was just too fast. He sailed passed Sam. He finished the course in under a minute and became a newly crowned speed demon. And that’s not to say that Sam was knocked out entirely.
More will be revealed in the weeks to come.
THE END
