[intense music]
- On your mark...
- I'm ready to turn up the speed.
- Get set...
- Side by side, it's crazy.
- Go!
- There's no room for an error here.
- This is wilder than ever.
- Tonight on "American Ninja Warrior,"
every run is a race.
Win your race,
and you stay alive.
This is gonna be a race! - This is gonna turn out--
Oh, my goodness!
- Actually having to race someone,
that's very intimidating.
- No hard feelings. - No!
- A shot at a million dollars is on the line.
- I ain't going easy.
- You're gonna be eating my dust if you do.
OK? - Let's go.
- Ah! Hold on for dear life!
- Universal Studios is about to be fast and furious,
because we're going racing on the first night of semifinals
on "American Ninja Warrior."
Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us.
I'm Matt Iseman. - And I'm Akbar Gbajabiamila.
Matt, this tower is gonna be rocking!
You cannot believe the excitement
of the head-to-head races.
- Now, the winners tonight move on to the national finals
in Vegas, but they're gonna have to go fast.
And for a look at our two-lane race course,
let's go down to Zuri Hall.
- Guys, this is where it all begins.
The ninjas will be side by side as they sprint through
six obstacles to reach the buzzer.
The agility test of Home Run leads it off.
That's followed by the upper body obstacles
Spring Forward, Beehive, and Hopscotch.
Then the ninjas have to bounce across the bungees
on Slingshot, and finally climb 18 feet up
the rope to finish the course.
[buzzer blares]
Hit a buzzer, and you can guarantee yourself
a spot in Vegas, guys.
- We'll be punching tickets to Vegas all evening long.
- Our seedings for tonight's races
are based on how far or how fast
they went in qualifying.
- And those rankings have created
some very interesting matchups,
like this first one. - Yeah.
We're starting with two of our little big men.
There's the Muscle Ball, 37-year-old "Ninja" veteran
Tyler Yamauchi.
He'll be racing against 16-year-old
Iowa high schooler Ben Behrends,
who's known as the Hype Guy.
[dramatic music]
- Ty Yamauchi.
- Whoa!
- We have a similar build.
I look up to him.
2017.
* *
He was my favorite ninja, and we watched him run.
- Oh! - Oh, no!
Great save by Yamauchi, the Muscle Ball,
coming up big.
* *
- Ben is a firecracker.
- Yeah, boy! Yeah!
- He is his own hype man here.
I love the energy out of Ben Behrends.
- He's shorter, like me,
so I thought, "Hey, that's not bad."
But then I realized he's a teen,
and teens don't get tired.
So now I'm like, "Oh, no."
* *
No matter who wins this,
it's a victory for the short guys.
* *
- And that's what's so crazy
about these head-to-head races.
You might have to send your heroes home.
- Tyler's family is watching back in the Chicago area.
- Yeah, Ben!
- And Ben's got a rowdy group of Iowa ninjas,
including his dad Scott, who'll run later.
[countdown clock beeping]
Got to bound across the first obstacle, Home Run.
- And you can see they're both doing the little double step.
Nice. Here we go to Spring Forward.
- They are light.
- You got to be fast on this one.
Got to pull up. Yeah! Yeah!
Let's see it!
- Behrends first off.
- That's the spirit of racing.
But now Behrends out ahead, got on the Beehive first.
- It is dead even. What a race!
- Ooh!
- These two, pushing each other.
Yamauchi, first off. That's huge.
If they both fall on an obstacle,
the winner is whoever finished the previous obstacle first,
so Yamauchi has the edge right now.
- And it's very easy to fall on this obstacle, Hopscotch.
They're landing on these teeny, tiny ledges.
- Slightly pulling ahead!
- Ooh! Making music.
- And Behrends, the first off.
The pressure back on Yamauchi.
If neither finishes Slingshot, Behrends would win.
- Matt, this back and forth is driving me crazy!
- Oh, what a race!
- It's like a tennis match.
You want to get to Vegas, you're gonna have to earn it.
- Oh! Yamauchi leaps ahead!
Behrends matching him.
Oh! - Oh, Behrends is down!
- No! - Oh!
- But Yamauchi must complete the obstacle!
- Oh, no! - And he falls!
Ben Behrends was the first to complete Hopscotch,
which means Behrends is moving on.
- Wow!
[cheers and applause]
- What a race!
The 16-year-old is going to Vegas.
His little sister can't believe it.
[upbeat music]
- These guys are the same size,
and they were in sync most of the way.
But Behrends finished Hopscotch first,
so even though they both fell on Slingshot,
the teenager gets the win.
- And his dad could be joining him in Vegas.
He'll run later.
[cheers and applause]
Those cute babies on the sideline
belong to two best friends
who are about to race each other.
Here's four-time veteran Mady Howard,
who's a nurse from Utah.
And on the other side is a physician assistant
also from Utah, Ally Tippetts Wootton,
who's known as the Flipper Ninja.
Oh! - They're both flipping.
- These two do almost everything together.
- Want to see the ducks?
Look at how cute the ducks are.
It's actually crazy how much Ally and I have in common.
We live in the same area.
We both have cute babies.
We work in the medical field.
We're kind of like the same person.
* *
- When Mady and I are doing Ninja together,
usually I'm asking her for tips.
- Whoo!
Looking strong.
- So it's her fault if I do good tonight.
[laughs]
- There's gonna be a competition
for cuteness on the sidelines with both of our babies there.
But we can't focus on that, because we've just got
to keep our eyes on the course.
This is a best friend showdown.
[cheers and applause]
- They're gonna have half of Utah
on the sideline with Ally's son Greyson
on the left with her husband,
and Mady's son Beckham with her husband on the right.
[countdown clock beeping]
- A lot of these match-ups tonight
are gonna pit friend versus friend.
And somebody is gonna get sent home.
- See a similar pace there, on now to Spring Forward.
Both these women, good upper body strength.
- Mady was a college gymnast at Southern Utah University,
and Ally was a college diver at BYU.
- And Mady linked it.
Mady, first up to the Beehive.
- Mady Howard has got a couple of years
in experience over Ally.
- Mady started competing four years ago,
has made it to Vegas two times.
- Ally, it's her rookie campaign,
but she's got a chance to make it
to the national finals.
She'll need to outrace her friend to get there.
And Mady Howard is off first.
- Nice.
- They're really keeping the pressure on, big man.
- Mady's Hopscotching.
But Ally's got to get it. She's got to hustle.
She's got an opportunity to level it up.
- Hurry up! Let's go!
- Absolutely.
And nothing is guaranteed in these races.
- Ooh.
- One misstep, and you saw Mady Howard--
that left arm was close. - Yeah.
You can see Mady Howard already starting to get away.
She pulling away.
- And that is big.
[cheers and applause]
Beckham and Daddy sending kisses to Mommy,
and she's sending them back,
but Mady needs to watch out because here comes Ally.
- Come on, Ally! Yes, Ally!
- Mady goes up first on Slingshot.
She has the advantage because she finished
the previous obstacle first.
Now Ally is up.
She has to finish this obstacle
to have any chance of moving on.
If they both fall, Mady wins.
- As we've seen, this is a very tough obstacle.
- Hold tight! You got it! Come on!
- Whew!
Boy, if this was a movie,
this would be an action-packed movie.
- It is neck and neck. Oh!
And Ally is done.
Mady Howard gets the win.
She outlasts her friend.
Only fitting she falls on Slingshot too.
These two do everything together.
But Mady wins this mama match-up.
Tonight, good friends will go head-to-head,
and one's about to send the other home.
- We're both pretty competitive This is right up our alley.
- Plus, we've got two father-son duos
trying to make history.
One son's already punched his ticket to Vegas.
Can his dad join him?
- Let's do it.
- And teen phenom Taylor Greene
tries to make history of her own.
She could be the first female rookie
with two straight buzzers.
It's the semifinals on "American Ninja Warrior."
- It's a night of racing on our semifinals.
Up next is the battle of Chicago.
Mike Silenzi and Chris DiGangi
are both good friends and training partners
back in the Windy City.
Silenzi, who is known as the Stallion,
made DiGangi a part of his herd
as soon as he arrived in Chicago.
[upbeat music]
- We've known each other for a long time,
really, ever since Jesse and I started dating.
And when we moved to the Chicago area, I mean,
Mike is basically like family for us.
- Dodge ball!
- Get Mike! Get Mike!
- Ah!
- We got history.
- That's code for we're old. - Yeah.
[sighs] Shh.
- Hit it!
* *
- Our personalities are a little different.
- Polar opposites.
I mean, this guy, he's walking around
with sleeveless shirts on all the time.
He's absolutely ripped.
He's wakeboarding out on the boat.
* *
I'm, like, software developer nerd,
sits at his desk all day. Oh, see?
- There you go. - Almost there.
- Yeah, look.
- Wow, I just got to fix those two pieces.
- Yeah.
- We're both pretty competitive on everything we do.
* *
We turn it into a competition, so this is right up our alley.
[laughter]
* *
- This new format is crazy because
you are going to send home somebody.
- Ooh, baby.
- One of our dreams ends here.
- Get up there! - Come on!
- It's gonna be a blast out there to race you,
but, hey, I ain't going easy.
- Chris, you better not go easy on me, man.
- [laughs]
- Because you're gonna be eating my dust if you do.
OK? - Let's go.
- Matt, this is the tough part of the races.
Sometimes you're gonna have to finish your homie's season.
- Here we go. - Let's have some fun, baby.
- Normally they're on each other's sideline.
Tonight the Chicago ninjas are cheering for both of them.
Silenzi's girlfriend also over there.
Flex is watching back in Illinois,
along with Silenzi's students.
Got to love how the ninjas support each other.
[countdown clock beeping]
Silenzi has been having a career resurgence.
He made it to stage two in Vegas the past two seasons,
but it's DiGangi out front on Spring Forward.
Can they link these moves? DiGangi is doing it.
- Ooh, look at DiGangi.
- These are two of "Ninja's" elder statesmen.
Both started competing 11 years ago.
- Mike Silenzi's all over the place
trying to catch up to his boy.
Oh, he caught up! - Look at that.
Silenzi's done it.
Oh, DiGangi just a half step ahead.
They go right into Hopscotch.
They're slowing down a little, bit still pushing each other.
The Windy City!
What a race!
- Oh, side by side.
Oh, we got some action right now.
Gotta hold it. Nice. - Whoa, whoa!
Just neck and neck!
- Chris DiGangi is not giving up the lead!
Oh! - And look!
Silenzi, first off,
puts the pressure back on DiGangi.
He now has to get through Slingshot
to have a chance to win.
Silenzi has a gymnastics background.
DiGangi was a college track athlete.
Who's better suited to finish Slingshot?
- Ooh.
- You have to be so careful or the bar will slide off.
- I love the focus that they have.
- What a race!
- You don't see them looking at each other.
They're running their own race,
not against each other.
- They move like shadows!
- Oh!
- And his grip gives out! - Wow.
- The stallion has galloped to a win!
- Wow.
- Come on!
- What a race.
Came down to the end.
- And you see Silenzi, he's gassed out.
He's got to get out of there.
[laughter]
He is so gassed.
- Silenzi's gonna get the buzzer.
- He's so good.
- Pauses to give a little fist bump
to his buddy, DiGangi.
Silenzi's going to the national finals!
[buzzer blares]
- Looks good to me!
[cheers and applause]
Good man.
- DiGangi's down, but he's not out yet.
He could still move on if he's one
of our fastest non-winners.
The Stallion! - Yeah.
He's got some horsepower, Matt.
- I love it.
- He's got some horsepower, Matt,
and I can't wait to see it in Vegas.
[cheers and applause]
[bell rings]
Matt, you know I'm a big wrestling fan,
and WWE's biggest event of the summer
happens Saturday. It's SummerSlam.
- One of WWE's superstars you'll see at SummerSlam
joins us now, Baron Corbin.
Man, You are a big dude, man. - What's going on?
What's going-- I'm up there a little bit,
but you guys are-- you guys are not small, either.
- I want to get in the ring with you, man.
I want to get in the ring with you.
- Let's go.
There's plenty of things down here we could
slam each other on, I'm sure. - OK.
All right. All right.
- Well, listen.
You got the title of WWE United States Champion.
We wanted to show you our reigning champion,
Kaden Lebsack, 17 years old,
squaring off against Glenn Albright.
- Kaden's been the Last Ninja Standing
the last two years, just missed out on winning
the million dollars.
He's a number 2 seed racing against the 23rd seed,
Glenn Albright, who has his work cut out for him.
- Kaden Lebsack has never faltered on a "Ninja" course.
Can he keep his streak alive?
[countdown clock beeping]
- It's like a rage in the cage.
- Oh!
- Check out the agility, Baron.
- There we go.
- And Glenn's off to a good start,
but Kaden's pulling ahead.
- Now, this is a little different.
You're going side by side, not wrestling.
But this course is physical. - This is amazing.
Because the grip strength, the upper body strength--
I mean, you've got to be special to be able to do this.
I'd be in the water already. It's insane.
- Well, that's a--of course.
You're 6' 8", 280 pounds. - Yeah.
Yeah. - That's gonna be difficult.
- As expected, Kaden Lebsack is leading the way.
But Glenn Albright is hanging around.
The way these ninjas fly around the course,
is this like going off the top rope, Baron?
- Absolutely. Absolutely.
But you don't want to land in this water.
I mean, they got to hang on.
They got to get to the next obstacle,
and compete and become champion.
- One mistake, and you're not going to Vegas.
It's Vegas or bust! - Ooh!
- Oh! - He's down!
- It's Glenn Albright. - He's down!
- Body slam!
- Oh, my goodness.
- Albright goes out on Hopscotch.
So Kaden Lebsack is assured of the win.
- But credit to Glen Albright,
going up against one of the all time greats,
and he pushed it.
- Now Kaden Lebsack can be careful
on the final few moves.
- And, remember, this bro has never hit
the H2O in his "Ninja" career.
- The two fastest will race at the end
of the night for the Safety Pass,
which gives you a second chance
if you fall in Vegas.
And he'll have the fastest time
by far tonight
[buzzer blares]
And he's almost a minute faster than Silenzi.
[cheers and applause]
And with that time, there's a good chance
we'll see him running for the Safety Pass
at the end of the night.
But we're gonna say goodbye to our guest.
Be sure to catch Baron Corbin
and other WWE superstars on SummerSlam.
Maybe Akbar will make an appearance in the ring.
It streams live... - You and me.
- This Saturday... - It's you and me.
- It's going down. - Only on Peacock.
Hold it back, fellas!
And we've got more semifinals races coming up.
- Welcome back to the semifinals,
where minutes ago we had another exciting race
with Chicago's Cam "The Bomb" Baumgartner
taking on Tatsumi Yanaba.
Yanaba, competing in his first semifinals,
stayed within striking distance early on.
- I mean, he went right into it, wasting no time.
- But he couldn't handle Hopscotch.
- No!
- That meant Baumgartner, a five time veteran
who made it to stage three last season,
could coast the rest of the way.
[buzzer blares]
He's going to Vegas for the third straight year.
[cheers and applause]
Then it was a battle of small but mighty ninjas,
with 5-foot-tall college student Maggie Owen
facing 5' 1" high schooler Violet Kepo'o.
Owen, who trains in Chicago with Ninja great Flex Labreck,
jumped out to an early lead.
- Yeah. Maggie is owning the race.
But Kepo'o, the 15-year-old from Utah,
slowly worked her way back into contention.
- She's fighting back! OK, Kepo'o.
- Owen was first off Hopscotch,
and that gave her the edge.
So when they both fell on Slingshot...
- Oh!
- It meant Maggie Owen got the win.
She's going back to Vegas for the second straight year.
[cheers and applause]
Well, the dogs are barking, which can only mean one thing.
It's time for the Canine Ninja, Roo Yori.
The 46-year-old from Minnesota always runs
to raise awareness for dog adoption.
And tonight he's going against a 27-year-old rookie
from Pittsburgh, Barry Boyd,
who's had quite a journey to get here.
[soft dramatic music]
- When me and my brothers were placed into foster care,
I was seven or eight.
Oh! Oh.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Keeping three boys together, it's just so important.
Oh!
- Bro. - What?
- Come on.
- [laughs]
It was tough.
It's kind of just us versus the world,
and we just have to take it on together.
* *
I'm sorry.
I was just-- just thinking about it.
* *
A year after we moved in with the final foster home,
we finally was able to be reunited back with our mother.
- H. G. - Perfect.
Being able to have my own family now...
Whoa!
It makes me so happy.
- Ah! - Ah!
I love the fact that I get to give them,
like, the life that I kind of like, craved.
[upbeat music]
Whoa. That was awesome.
My mom and brothers, they come up and visit.
It's so exciting to see them love on each other.
- Jump! - Jump!
Jump!
- This is pretty much the thing
that I've always dreamed of.
And I'm so glad that I'm now living out my dreams.
* *
[cheers and applause]
- Two great guys.
And Barry has his family on the sideline,
as will Roo.
[countdown clock beeping]
Roo Yori, now in his eighth season on "Ninja,"
doing it at 46 years old.
And Barry Boyd was so impressive in qualifying,
he got a buzzer in his first time on the course.
Roo Yuri jumps out in front.
The old dog can still move.
- Nice. OK, Roo Yori.
[cheers and applause]
- He's pausing for a moment,
and here comes Barry Boyd, both now onto Beehive.
- Matt, Roo hasn't been to Vegas since season eight.
That was his rookie year.
- And that was seven years ago.
You know he wants this.
Roo seems to have a plan.
He's getting off the obstacles first
then resting, while Barry Boyd
is usually the first on the obstacle.
Both up now on Hopscotch.
- Go, son! Go!
- Looks like the 46-year-old Roo is slowing down.
And look at Barry.
He's steady.
Looks like he's been doing this for a minute.
- Wow.
He is looking locked-in.
Good moves by Roo.
So impressive, keeping that--
- Oh! - But Roo York goes down!
And he is out.
So Barry Boyd gets the win.
But he wants another buzzer.
- Let's go back and look at what happened to Roo.
He was running a smart race,
but on the last tile of Hopscotch,
got his fingers on the handles but couldn't hang on.
- But the rookie from Pittsburgh
is still going.
- Barry Boyd has overcome so much in his life.
I am so excited for him.
- And Barry Boyd on the rope climb,
going to Vegas with a buzzer
[buzzer blares]
- This rookie continues to impress.
Two buzzers from his first two runs on the course.
He has come out of nowhere,
and hit a buzzer in qualifying,
and followed it up with another one
tonight in the semis.
And the family can pack their bags.
They're going to Vegas.
- Aw, look at that moment.
Look at that!
- This next matchup features two teenage rookies,
Colorado's Emily Keener and Michigan's Riley Porter.
They faced each other in local Ninja competitions.
And as you can see, they've become good friends.
Emily is an artist who uses spray paint
to create artwork inspired
by her favorite music.
Riley and her family run a business
called Yard Card Ninjas,
where they surprise people with elaborate displays
for special occasions.
Both girls run track in high school,
and now they're facing each other for a spot
in the national finals.
- I'm really good friends with Emily,
so it's gonna be kind of tough.
I really wish I could see her in Vegas,
but I just want to get my hands on that course.
- It feels so amazing to be here in semis,
and I can't wait to see what I can do.
- Yeah, Riley!
- Both girls have big groups of family and friends
on the sidelines.
[cheers and applause]
[countdown clock beeping]
- And these good friends are perfectly in sync
as they run through Homerun.
Keener's got a 3-inch height advantage,
but Riley Porter matching her move for move.
Wow.
Look at them linking!
- Ooh, nice linkage.
- That was dead even off of there.
- I liked that one.
All right, now Beehive. - Oh, my!
And they're being very aggressive,
especially Riley Porter.
- Porter said she was gonna have to run a fast race,
and she's doing it.
Both these girls still in high school,
but showing such poise in a huge moment.
- Porter is not letting up.
She wants to keep that pressure on Emily Keener.
- I'm so impressed with these 15-year-olds.
What great races they're running,
pushing each other.
And now Keener moves ahead, both of them fighting
hard for that spot in Vegas.
Back and forth.
Oh, Keener falls!
So Riley Porter gets the win, and she's finishing Hopscotch.
[cheers and applause]
She's going to the national finals
in her rookie season,
and she's gonna go for a buzzer.
Now she gets to have a little fun, big man.
- Oh!
Falls on Slingshot.
But no matter, she punched her ticket to Vegas.
- Good job, Riley!
- These two friends were side by side
through the first three obstacles.
And then Emily jumped out in front
on Hopscotch, only to have her hands slip
right off on the final tile.
- These two may have been competitors tonight,
but they are still friends.
The Ninja community is so supportive.
[cheers and applause]
Coming up, one member of the Behrends family
has punched his ticket.
Can his dad do the same,
or will the Beckstrands be the first
father-son duo in Vegas?
That's next on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Moments ago, it was another race
with a huge age difference,
as 18-year-old college student Max Feinberg
took on 44-year-old firefighter Brian Beckstrand,
a father of five, including his son Kai, who runs next.
- Old school versus new school.
- Though Beckstrand was 26 years older,
he stayed right on the heels of Feinberg,
and kept it close as they raced
through the second, the third,
and the fourth obstacles.
- Can Max Feinberg handle the pressure?
- And both competitors made it to Slingshot.
- Oh!
- That's where Beckstrand splashed down,
and Feinberg was able to reach the buzzer.
[buzzer blares]
He's going back to Vegas for the third straight year,
but Brian Beckstrand won't be joining him.
His time's not fast enough to be one of our two
non-winners moving on.
His son, Kai, though, still has a chance
to punch his ticket to Vegas.
Kai was the fastest in all of qualifying,
so he's the top seed tonight.
And getting the unlucky task of going against him
is the Natty Ninja, Cincinnati's James Wilson.
Kai is coming in on a hot streak.
He was the first to conquer the taller Mega Wall
in qualifying. [buzzer blares]
James Wilson is an eight time veteran,
but he's never hit a buzzer.
[countdown clock beeping]
- The crazy thing about competition
is it can bring the best out of you.
James Wilson has a chance.
But Kai Beckstrand, pulling the weight.
- Oh, my goodness, Kai is linking everything
on Spring Forward.
- Oh, my God.
This is like Rocky going up against Drago.
And Kai looks like Ivan Drago.
- At this point, it's likely gonna take a fall out of Kai.
My goodness, he's been flawless!
Whoa.
And skips the first ledge!
The two fastest from tonight will race for the Safety Pass
at the end of the night.
Kai, running like he wants to be in that race.
A Safety Pass gives you a second chance in Vegas.
Wow. - He's going too fast.
- Kai Beckstrand-- well, at this point,
James Wilson will need a miracle.
Oh!
And Wilson is out.
So Kai Beckstrand has the win,
but he's still flying,
now almost through Slingshot.
And look at the clock.
He could beat Kaden Lebsack for the fastest time.
Kai Beckstrand...
[buzzer blares]
By far the best time of the night.
[cheers and applause]
- You did that in under a minute.
- For real?
- You did that in under a minute, man.
- Shoot.
I knew I was moving, but not that quick.
- Well, that's the fastest time of the night.
And if it holds up, you're racing
for the Safety Pass, buddy!
- Let's go!
- He was linking moves all the way across the course.
Kai Beckstrand is on a tear this season.
[cheers and applause]
- Papa Beckstrand may not be in Vegas,
but Kai will be.
And remember, Ben Behrends won his race earlier.
So the two sons from our father-son duos
have punched their ticket to the national finals.
Now Ben's dad, Scott, will try to join him,
and make "Ninja" history as the first father-son duo
in Vegas.
Scott is 41, the leader of that big group of Iowa Ninjas,
which includes his family.
His son Ben is the hype guy, but his daughter Lia
gets pretty loud, too.
- Oh, man, she gets so into these races.
- But Dad's gonna be racing 29-year-old Derrick Pavoni,
known as the Pizza Ninja because his family
runs a pizza restaurant.
And he is the heart and soul
of the Chicago Ninja family,
many of whom are on the sidelines.
- Let's go!
- Matt, the sidelines are gonna be going crazy.
We could see the first father-son duo quality
for the national finals.
- Pavoni, bounding out. Boy, look at that.
- Great control of momentum.
- Pavoni, rolling out like pizza dough.
- But Scott Behrends makes it. - Ooh!
Scottie ain't messing around!
- That was impressive. And goes right into Beehive.
- Whoa, that 41-year-old's got that fountain of youth.
He says, "You know what, I've been training with my kids."
- Well, credit to him, he's pulling away from Pavoni
who has shockingly come to a stop on the trampoline.
- I did not see that one coming.
[cheers and applause]
- But his son, Ben Behrends,
still his hype man on the sidelines.
- He's hoping he and his dad can pull of a "Ninja" first.
- You thought 41 maybe move slower.
No, no, no, not here.
- But here comes Pavoni.
- Don't let Pavoni back in.
You got to go, Scott! Ooh.
- It's never over in racing, big man.
- Keep them Ls. - Behrends, slowing down.
- Ooh, boy.
I don't know the last time Scott Behrends
was hopscotching, but he looks good.
- Look at this.
Scott Behrends. - Are you kidding me?
[cheers and applause]
- Behrends goes up on the Slingshot,
but here comes Pavoni. - Yes!
- Derrick, you got it! Get it!
- So, Lindsay, telling him he's got to finish.
And remember, he's never hit a buzzer.
Now he likely has to do it to beat Behrends.
- Oh, boy. - This could drop.
- Nice.
And Scott Behrends is 155 pounds,
and he's carrying it well.
- But seems to be gassing out.
- Oh, he's barely making the moves.
And here comes Pavoni.
- Oh!
- And Pavoni is down!
Ninja history has been made.
Scott Behrends has done it!
He's going to Vegas! - Oh!
- The first time ever, we'll have a father-son duo
at the national finals.
- Here's the key moment.
Scott Behrends linked his moves on Spring Forward
to surge ahead
and never gave up the lead after that.
- First of all, 41 years old,
out here looking like the teenagers.
How are you feeling out there?
- Not like a teenager.
[laughter]
- I mean, it was so impressive to see you do your thing,
in all seriousness.
You guys are making history--
the first father-son duo to make it
to the national finals.
Congratulations, y'all.
[cheers and applause]
- But there's more history in the making.
Taylor Greene's was only woman to hit a buzzer in qualifying.
If she hits another tonight,
she'd be the first female rookie to hit two in a row.
She's next on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to our first night of racing
in the semifinals.
Moments ago, we saw two Ninjas
who had memorable runs in qualifying,
as 27-year-old Jawon Turner--
who serves up hot wings at a restaurant in Wisconsin--
took on 16-year-old high school student
Hans Hertz, who runs for his brother, Harper.
Hertz surged ahead on Spring Forward.
- Hans ain't messing around.
- And the impressive teenager kept up
the pace on the middle part of the course.
- Now Hans is separating!
- Turner fell on Slingshot...
- Oh.
- As Hertz was climbing
to the second buzzer of his rookie campaign.
[buzzer blares]
- Hertz so good.
- Then it was Hertz's Colorado training partner,
26-year-old Austin Gray, who squared off
against the Blue Jean Ninja,
Iowa farmer Cade Perkins, a rookie.
Gray, who's been the runner up twice on "Ninja Warrior,"
jumped out to an early lead.
- Whoo!
And, remember, Austin was a six time veteran, Matt.
- But Perkins stayed within striking distance.
- Cade Perkins is not backing down.
He ain't intimidated. - Go, Cade!
Way to go!
- The two competitors stayed close throughout,
and both made it to the fifth obstacle, Slingshot.
- Whoa!
- Perkins' fall gave the win to Austin Gray,
who capped it off with a buzzer.
[buzzer blares]
But Perkins' speed means he still has
a shot to move on as one of the fastest non-winners.
- That was a good race.
- Well, now Austin gets to watch his protégé face off
against his girlfriend
because up next is teen phenom Taylor Greene,
who will be trying to make history as the first woman
to hit buzzers in her first two runs.
But she'll have to do it against her good friend
Jaelyn Bennett.
- Come on, Tay. You got it. Easy wall.
Come on!
- I probably met Jaelyn when I was eight or nine.
And she was actually my gymnastics coach
before she ever even got into Ninja.
She's also Austin's girlfriend,
who has been my coach and training partner
for many years.
It's a little nerve-racking to compete against my heroes.
- Taylor is one of the best female athletes
in the sport right now.
We've become very close.
And now I have to race against her.
- I am not gonna let up until I get to that buzzer.
[cheers and applause]
- Teacher versus student.
Class is in session.
All of this could be "Ninja" history in the making
for Taylor Greene.
- And for Austin Gray, either his girlfriend
or his prized pupil will be joining him
at the national finals.
He'll be watching with other ninjas and Taylor's parents.
[countdown clock beeping]
- Ooh, OK. Ooh.
- And Jaelyn, a little quicker start.
- Yeah.
Jaelyn said, "All right, I'm ready."
- That's pretty even, right there.
- Whoo!
- But a little hesitation--oh!
- Oh, wow.
- And just like that, Jaelyn Bennett is out.
And she can't believe it.
So Taylor Greene gets the win.
She's already flying through Beehive.
Gonna keep going towards that buzzer.
- Come on, Tay! - Yeah.
Let's go back and take a look at what happened to Jaelyn.
She just didn't get a good bounce off the trampoline
and came up short on Spring Forward.
- And Taylor Greene continues her march towards history.
She's finishing up Hopscotch.
[cheers and applause]
And goes right up to Slingshot,
looking like nothing is going to stop her.
This crowd knows they're watching something special.
With all the women who've competed on "Ninja Warrior,"
Greene could be the first to hit a buzzer
in her first two runs.
- Taylor! Taylor!
[cheers and applause]
- And look at this.
- You see her eyes? She is determined.
- She came to us as the sweet ninja girl,
but you called it.
It is Mean Taylor Greene
who is getting her second buzzer...
[buzzer blares]
And punching her ticket to Vegas.
[cheers and applause]
Her perfect rookie season continues.
- What a start for Taylor Greene.
- She came into the season with a lot of hype,
and she has lived up to it.
Of all the great Ninja women,
none hit buzzers their first two times on the course.
But Taylor Greene just did it.
- She may rewrite the women's record book
before it's all over.
Next stop for her,
Vegas and the national finals.
- This is a big one, guys.
Two of Ninja's fan favorites are going head-to-head.
Gnarly Nate Hansen will try to keep
his season alive going up against
the Cat Daddy, Jackson Twait. - Jackson! Jackson!
- You can hear his group already.
And Gnarly Nate's got a big group
on his sideline, as well.
- Gnarly Nate! Gnarly Nate!
- These two like to have fun, and they've got lots of fans.
[cheers and applause]
But one of them may be going home right now.
- Yeah, that's right, Zuri.
They need to get serious.
These races have stakes.
If they want to keep their season alive,
they've got to go.
[countdown clock beeping]
- This should be an epic match-up.
Twait is almost a foot taller,
and he's first through Homerun.
- Might take Nate a little longer,
but you know never to count him out.
- And Cat Daddy makes a link then hesitates.
And he's first off Spring Forward.
- Yeah, Cat Daddy moving like a cat.
- Nate Hansen, close behind.
Despite his size, he's worked to make himself
one of the elite ninjas.
- Nate Hansen was on stage three
last year in Vegas.
You never underestimate him.
- But Cat Daddy's staying slightly ahead.
They're both moving quickly.
Remember, the two fastest non-winners from tonight
will also go to Vegas.
- And look at this.
Gnarly Nate has now caught up.
I told you, never count him out.
- Whoever gets off this obstacle first
will have a huge advantage.
And it's Gnarly Nate.
- I told you!
- Oh, my, that's a big move out of Nate.
Now Jackson Twait must finish Slingshot.
If they both fall, Nate will get the win.
- Uh-oh.
- Really put the pressure back on Jackson Twait!
- And Jackson Twait looks like he's
about to get gassed out, Matt.
Does he have anything left?
- Oh, no! - Oh, and now...
- Nate's gets it uneven.
- Nate's got to even it out. - Look at that!
- Ooh.
- He's got one string on each side.
- Oh, my goodness. - Can he recover?
- But he's only 135 pounds.
- And Jackson Twait is pulling away!
He's avoiding trouble on Slingshot
and now he can climb to the buzzer.
- Oh.
- Jackson Twait, getting the buzzer.
Nate, hung up!
[buzzer blares]
- Let's go!
[cheers and applause]
- Nate Hansen finally drops down.
He fought till the very end.
- Nate had the edge coming off Hopscotch,
but got hung up on the bungees.
And Jackson Twait went past him
and gets the win.
But Nate reached Slingshot in under 52 seconds.
He could still move on as our second fastest non-winner.
- Coming up, an all-out sprint
for the Safety Pass to use in Vegas.
- That could be a million dollar difference.
- We'll see it when
"American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- We had another exciting semifinals race
while we were away, as Josh Ferguson--
a father of three from Utah who's 38--
took on a ninja almost 20 years younger,
19-year-old Jera Boyd.
Boyd was one of four athletes to conquer
the Mega Wall in qualifying.
- Oh, my goodness! What?
- And the teenager was explosive again tonight,
jumping out to a big lead.
- Now, I'ma tell you right now,
Jera Boyd moves so fast,
he is disrespecting his elder.
- After Ferguson fell on Hopscotch...
- Oh!
- Boyd took aim at getting one
of the night's fastest times.
[buzzer blares]
But he finished just a second slower than Kaden Lebsack,
and missed out on racing for the Safety Pass.
So Jera Boyd ended up with the third fastest time,
and Kai Beckstrand and Kaden Lebsack
will now race for the Safety Pass.
All of tonight's winners will move on
to the national finals.
Scott and Ben Behrens will be our first father-son duo
to compete together in Vegas.
And our two fastest non-winners
will be joining them.
That's Tyler Yamauchi and Nate Hansen.
The women's side is dominated by teenagers,
including history maker Taylor Greene.
And we're gonna end the night with a race
for the Safety Pass, which gives you
a second chance if you fall in Vegas.
And that is huge.
We've switched up the course with new obstacles
to challenge our two fastest competitors.
And here they come.
Well, we've seen some great races,
but this is a heavyweight championship bout.
It is our two-time reigning champion
Kaden Lebsack taking on an absolute beast
in 17-year-old Kai Beckstrand.
[dramatic music]
- I've known Kai for a while.
I actually met him at one of the first
Ninja competitions I've ever done.
- I had raced Kaden a couple of times
in little local competitions.
But the last time I had raced him was back
on season two of "ANW Junior."
- Both these ninjas are fluid and fast.
Oh, boy!
- He ended up beating me
in that race 'cause I slipped up a little bit
on the Cliffhanger, and I ended up in the water.
- Nice!
- And now he's got 25 pounds of muscle on me.
Going against Kai is-- it's very scary.
He's probably the fastest ninja I've ever seen.
He throws moves that I don't think are possible.
- Kai Beckstrand, looking good and fast.
- He has been the last Ninja standing two years in a row,
but that doesn't mean he's the fastest Ninja out there.
- To be the best, you got to beat the best.
[cheers and applause]
- No one wants to miss this race.
- Matt, I remember when we saw these guys
race on "Ninja Junior."
- Now they're bigger and the stakes are higher.
The winner gets a second chance in Vegas,
and that could be a million dollar advantage.
[countdown clock beeping]
- They'll both be in Vegas, no matter what,
but a Safety Pass can be huge.
- Kai first there, Kaden matching him.
Oh, they're linking 'em. - Nice!
- These guys are the best!
- All right, they're on that. Now look at that!
Look at that linkage by Kaden Lebsack!
Oh, my goodness.
Kaden's just throwing himself around.
- Jumps ahead on the Wingnuts, and right into Sideways.
- Kai Beckstrand is about to break it down, man.
Look at this! Look at Kai!
- Kai is flying!
- They both got the caps on backwards,
but now look at this!
- First one to Spin Hopper!
- Kai does not want to go down!
- Kaden's almost gaining!
- Oh, my goodness! It's hard to predict!
- Oh, it's gonna be a race! - Oh, my goodness!
- Kaden! - Oh!
- Pulls ahead! - He takes a swing!
[buzzer blares]
Wow.
- And Kaden Lebsack, a come from behind victory!
- Unbelievable!
- Absolutely lives up to the hype!
- That was a main event for the ages right there!
- We'll see you guys in Vegas!
And thank you for an awesome race.
[cheers and applause]
- They were moving so fast, it looked like
they barely touched the obstacles!
Kai got to Spin Hopper first, but watch Kaden
skipping handles to take the lead.
He lost his hat, but he won the Safety Pass race
in just under 38 seconds.
- That wraps our first night of semifinals.
For Akbar Gbajabiamila and Zuri Hall, I'm Matt Iseman.
We'll see you next time on "American Ninja Warrior."