[cheers and applause]
- We're on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River
in St. Louis, Missouri,
inside the Dome at America's Center,
and tonight we wrap up the semifinals
on "American Ninja Warrior."
Hello, everybody. I'm Matt Iseman.
- And I'm Akbar Gbajabiamila.
Matt, we've been rocking this dome all season,
and we're gonna keep it going tonight.
We're about to see a stacked field of ninja superstars.
Longtime veterans like stuntwoman Jessie Graff,
Connecticut's Joe Moravsky,
rock climber Meagan Martin,
and Philadelphia's Najee Richardson.
- I just feel really good,
and I think this could possibly be my season.
- But we've also got the next generation of ninja,
some rising stars ready to make some noise.
- [yells]
I'm fast. I'm ready.
I'm gonna kill it, show them what I got.
Let's go, baby!
- And this course is filled
with dangerous twists and turns.
For all the details, let's go down to Zuri Hall.
- Guys, the extended course has ten tough obstacles,
including this one that left some of our best ninjas
drenched and dizzy last week.
- Oh, no! [buzzer blares]
- The eighth obstacle, Corkscrew,
with its three wild spins,
took out a third of our competitors.
- Oh! - Oh, no!
- And the ninth obstacle, the Dungeon,
is another tough one that also took out some of our best.
- No!
- Whoever survives takes on the tenth obstacle,
the 35-foot Spider Trap, which leads to the buzzer.
Who is gonna come out on top? We'll find out tonight.
[horn blares]
- Zuri, you better get down from there
because we're ready to roll.
Our first competitor tonight is a true American hero.
Verdale Benson won a Bronze Star
for his service in Afghanistan.
The former Army medic is now a physician assistant.
And that's his wife and son watching right there.
A few weeks ago they got to see Ninja V,
as he's known, have his biggest ninja moment.
- Say da-da. - Bye.
- Get that buzzer. - Bye.
- Yeah.
- I and my family have sacrificed so much.
I have a very supportive wife.
You know, she gives me her--her blessing
to train for hours a week.
My run in qualifying
was absolutely the best night of my ninja career.
- Let's go! Get up that wall!
- Ninja V looking for his first buzzer!
- I had never hit a buzzer.
When I was at the top of that wall,
and I finally hit the buzzer
and realized that my dream had come true,
it just really brought out the emotion in me.
- ♪ Today is your day
- How special is this?
- It's just awesome watching the emotion.
- Seeing my family on the sidelines,
even though they weren't here physically,
really prompted a lot of the tears.
This is a dream come true. This is what it's all about.
- Sebastian's watching you, huh?
- I wanted to do it for him, for my two boys,
my wife, my family...
This is great.
If I can just recapture that energy,
I know that I can do well and finish this course
in the semifinals.
I have the momentum,
and I'm here to take the top spot.
- ♪ Today is your day
- In addition to his wife and son,
he's also got his mom watching.
- Aw, yeah, she's got a Ninja V shrine behind her.
- Let's go, V!
- On the sideline, the Army buddy who invited him
to compete this year, Jeri D'Aurelio,
plus one of the NorCal ninjas he trains with, Brian Kretsch.
[countdown timer beeping]
- And Verdale Benson is swole, Matt.
That's 210 pounds of solid muscle
going across the Shrinking Steps.
- Now here on this new obstacle, Spring Forward.
Haven't seen this since last season in L.A.,
and it was a challenger.
- Yeah, and it can be very tricky too.
As you see, this thing has got a lot of spring to it,
and so it can disrupt your ability to lache.
- Actually will start putting you sideways.
Such a challenge to control the momentum.
- Whoo! - Holds on.
- And he's handling it well, Matt.
- Oh, and that last bar just flung him off.
But he is through.
Now on to Clockwork.
This first sprocket turns all three.
This thing moves in unison. You need a lot of power here.
- That's right, Matt.
You wanna swing around this arc.
You wanna be able to get that timing, just like that.
- He's the heaviest ninja we'll see tonight,
so he can really generate momentum when he gets moving.
- Okay.
- Whoa. - Very nice!
- He got big air on that one. - Nice!
Killing it, V! - One more leap.
And he's got it.
Now this dangerous new balance obstacle, Burn Rubber.
You have to sprint across these three spinning wheels.
- Come on, V, big power, foot placement.
- Strong push. - You got it.
- He's trying to psyche himself up.
He's talking to it. It's like, just go.
Don't talk yourself out of it. Talk yourself in it.
Oh, oh, okay, good.
- And he survives, throwing up the V, and a respectful bow.
- A lot of respect.
Mama yelling so loud, she's covering Sebastian's ears.
- He's not even fazed by it. - Whoo-hoo!
- Now Ninja V's stepping up to take on
this fifth obstacle, Slingshot.
Has to bounce the bar
across these bungee cord cradles.
- Gotta be finesse through here, nice.
- And you can see that bar, the right side,
it's a little uneven. Watch it.
A lot of people got tripped up on this in qualifying.
- Oh, no, no, no, no, go the other way.
- Trying to adjust it. - He's pushing it to the left.
He's gotta push it to the right.
- And it's so hard.
That bar, it's very difficult to adjust it on the bungees.
- Nice. I like the way he absorbed it.
- You can see those bungees giving,
makes it real hard to control,
but Verdale doing an excellent job.
- Nice! Yes!
- Come on. You can keep this up.
- Yeah, Verdale looks smooth on this.
You don't expect this out of the swole Ninja V.
- But spending a fair amount of time up here, Akbar,
and that upper body is getting sacked.
Jeri D'Aurelio's getting excited.
- She's going nuts.
- So proud of what she's seeing, and look at this.
Ninja V back to the Warped Wall.
- Okay. [all cheering]
- Remember, only the top 12 and top two women
from tonight will move on, and time could be important,
so he needs to keep moving and get up that wall.
- Dada. Dada.
- Let's go, Verdale. You got this.
all: Beat that wall! Beat that wall!
- And right up the Warped Wall again.
- Yeah! - Yeah, buddy.
- Save that upper-body strength.
- Well, we should be saluting him.
He's seen combat.
Now on the front lines, battling COVID.
- And, Matt, he's taking off his shirt.
He knows what's up. It's about to get tougher.
- Yeah!
- Well, first up is the Salmon Ladder and then Corkscrew.
Well, here we go, Akbar.
What a brutal two-obstacle gauntlet here.
If he gets to Corkscrew, he better hold on
for a wild ride.
Oh! - Uh-oh, uh-oh.
Correct, correct--nice. - Okay, stay calm.
- You gotta go upstream
on Salmon Ladder pretty quickly
and save that upper-body strength.
- There you go. - Jumped it up four rungs.
So he's through.
Now this insane new obstacle, Corkscrew.
We saw last week, this is a crazy ride.
Four-foot drop, gotta hang on.
- He's gotta hold on wide. - Yes!
- Nice! - Hold on, hold on!
- Oh, you could see the twist. - Okay!
He's got some flexibility in his wrists and his lats.
- Now you have to lache up almost four feet here.
- That's a lot of weight going up.
That's a lot of weight going up.
No! - Oh, no!
- [screaming]
- Just had no chance to grab that second wheel.
A strong run out of Ninja V,
but he'll have to wait and see if that's good enough
to get him to the finals.
- Matt, he's built like a linebacker,
but he rumbled across Burn Rubber like a running back.
Then he got twisted on the first spin on Corkscrew,
but he couldn't get that big body up for the next one.
- Tonight...
- Get your popcorn ready. Whoo!
- It's the second night of the semifinals...
- Night two, let's do this.
- And ninja superstars are ready to go for a spin...
- Hold on! Hold on!
- And do whatever it takes to keep their season alive.
- No! Oh, oh! - What a save!
- Plus,
see how the Cowboy Ninja
got his wife back in the saddle.
- It's that spirit of her never giving up.
It definitely helps give me
that motivation to keep pushing.
- I love riding with you, Mommy.
- When "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- Welcome back to our second night of semifinals
on "American Ninja Warrior."
While we were away, San Antonio's Thomas Stillings
tried to punch his ticket to next week's finals.
- Hi!
- The reason for this season is his wife.
- The five-time veteran dedicated
this season to his wife Zoe,
who recently underwent brain surgery.
- [laughs] - Ah, making Zoe laugh.
Those two have a special bond.
- And the man nicknamed the Genie Ninja
made quick work of the first six obstacles.
- If you had one wish, what would it be?
- I already got my wish. - You got your wish?
- My wife's alive. - Mwah!
- Whoa!
- After surviving two wild spins on Corkscrew...
- I think he might have dislocated his wrists!
- You got it, one more.
- He had no magic left for the third.
- Oh, my goodness, did you see that?
- I think this is one of my favorite obstacles of all time.
This one was so great.
- Up next, another ninja veteran.
This is firefighter paramedic Dan Polizzi,
better known as one half of the Towers of Power.
There's the other half of the duo, Brandon Mears,
back in Illinois with his son, Ashton.
- Power. - Towers of Power.
- Dan, like Brandon,
is a firefighter in the Chicago area,
and he's been busy in 2020,
as COVID has added even more pressure to his job.
His firehouse in Aurora, Illinois,
sometimes makes four or five COVID-related calls per day
in addition to their normal fire-related duties.
[cheers and applause]
Much love to Dan and all the firefighters out there.
Between COVID and the wildfires in the West,
they are truly appreciated this year.
And Dan's getting a lot of love.
That's his family, and there's his girlfriend Heather,
who's working in a hospital right now.
- Come on. - And on the sidelines,
one of his fellow Chicago ninjas, Michael Torres.
- You got it, Dan, come on. Just like we talked about.
[countdown timer beeping] - Let's go, Dan.
- And Polizzi's coming off a strong season last year,
made it to stage two in Vegas.
- Probably needs to get to the eighth
or ninth obstacle tonight
if he wants to move on to next week's finals.
6'1", 185.
Akbar, this guy, all muscle
and so much upper-body strength
and great technique.
- Matt, it's his eighth season competing.
He knows what's up.
He's got his buddy, Brandon Mears, over there.
Now, normally Brandon's on the sidelines.
Tonight he's on those screens.
- And he's through, no problem there.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Now on to Clockwork.
He's never seen this obstacle before.
These connected sprockets all spin.
You gotta get all three of these moving.
- The coordination from one obstacle
to the next, a little different.
- Good power.
Getting all these sprockets moving like George Jetson.
And now he's gotta go up slightly
to reach that final bar.
- Nice. - Oh, hangs on.
[cheering]
He's through. Now facing Burn Rubber.
- Oh, he's gonna have to run across the thing, okay?
- Okay.
- The Towers of Power have had their troubles
with balance obstacles in the past.
- All right. Oh, no, no, no, no!
- Oh! Used his hands, but that's okay.
[cheering]
Now the fifth obstacle, Slingshot.
- You gotta make sure that you're efficient
with your movement, no wasted movement.
Everything's gotta be right on the money.
- Well, last season in qualifying, he faced
this obstacle and failed.
He bested it in the city finals.
- Well, I'm sure he's put in some work during the offseason.
- Oh, oh!
- That was a little clumsy, but he saved it.
- That right side, it clipped on the bracket,
but he survived,
but his heart's gotta be racing.
- Matt, he's two cradles away.
One cradle away! - And getting a lot smoother.
A big drop here; got to absorb it.
- Last cradle, come on.
Nice. - Real good job.
- Well, he didn't get rocked by that cradle.
- And he's got it.
[cheers and applause]
And now the Warped Wall.
- Shake those arms out, forearms.
Whatever you need to do. Whatever you gotta do, Dan.
- This wall should be no problem for Polizzi.
- And it is not. He's up.
- Whoo! - Yeah, buddy.
- All right, Polizzi.
- But now comes the brutal final obstacles.
First the Salmon Ladder, which leads right into Corkscrew.
- Go, Dan!
- Let's go, Dan!
- He's a firefighter.
He shouldn't have any problems with ladders of any kind.
- And this is tough 'cause once
you're on the Salmon Ladder,
those forearms won't get a respite
until you survive this.
And he's through the Salmon Ladder,
but now the wild ride of Corkscrew.
- Whoo! - Hanging on.
- That's like coming down the fire pole.
Don't get dizzy, Polizzi.
- Big lache here.
Gotta pop up almost four feet!
- Nice! - Can he hang on?
- Nice! - Polizzi.
- He comes down fire poles for a living.
- One more!
- Come on. We got an emergency here.
- Kips up. Hang on! - Nice, nice!
- And Polizzi gets the dismount!
- Okay! Okay, Polizzi! - Can he do it?
And he's through.
- Yeah, yeah! [cheering]
- That was impressive.
- And look at Mears. - Mears has gotta be pumped.
And now Dan will be the first to face this ninth obstacle.
Can he get through the Dungeon?
Gotta use the pegs to climb up the panel, then when it tilts,
climb back across it.
Slowing down a little on these last few pegs.
- And he's 185 pounds.
That's a lot to carry after you've done
those previous eight obstacles.
- Akbar, he's looking a bit gassed.
Does he have anything for this traverse?
- The Dungeon is really torturing him.
- A l--oh, no! - Oh!
- Goes down on the Dungeon,
but made it to the ninth obstacle.
We'll see if that's far enough fast enough
to stay in the top 12.
- Watch his face as he survives three spins
on Corkscrew.
But all that twisting must have tired him out,
as his grip gave out on the Dungeon,
but he represented for the Towers of Power
and firefighters everywhere.
- Hopefully we're moving on, Towers of Power.
- We've got an impressive lineup
of women competitors tonight, and here's the first of them.
It's Meagan Martin.
This fan favorite is a rock climber,
a sports model, and an ESPN commentator,
and now she's got a new title to add to her list: fiancée.
- Yeah, take that thing down.
- Dave and I have been dating for about two years now,
and, about a year ago, we bought a house together.
Do you see it?
And then the other day he proposed,
and I said yes.
And I love my ring.
It's definitely been a really tough year,
and since we can get through quarantine together,
I think we can get through anything together.
It's really special and definitely something great
to come out of 2020.
[cheers and applause]
- And there's Dave.
He's a rock climber too. That's how they met.
Meagan will also have her mom and dad watching from Florida.
[countdown timer beeping]
- And Matt, there is a lot of strong women here tonight.
It's gonna take a good run to make it to the finals.
- Come on, Meagan!
- Come on, Meagan. Come on.
- Meagan now facing Spring Forward.
Record-setting pole vaulter at Vanderbilt,
world-class rock climber.
- There you go. - Excellent body awareness.
- Nice. And you can see her
getting a little bit of that hang time.
Nice.
- Excellent job out of Meagan Martin.
She is springing forward.
- Perfect, perfect. - Just needs the dismount.
- There you go. - Ooh.
I think she surprised herself
with how much air she got there.
- Yeah, Meagan. - Yeah, she went flying.
- Now into Clockwork.
Meagan's been rock climbing since she was 11 years old.
You may see her working as a commentator
on ESPN for their climbing events.
- Yeah, that looked good.
- Looking a little hesitant here though.
- You see she's taking a little time to try and see--
she second-guessed herself. - Yep.
- She's trying to get her body
to dial into this new movement.
- There you go. There you go.
- You could see her, plenty of distance there,
but Meagan Martin taking extra swings,
and that will not bode well
for the back half if she makes it there.
- Yeah, there you go. - And again extra swings.
She is really working out there.
- Get through it! - But she's through.
- There you go. Shake them off.
- And needs to catch her breath
and get ready for Burn Rubber.
At 5'4", she's gonna need some big strides.
- Yeah, especially when they're offset a foot apart
from each other. That's challenging.
- No, quick, quick, quick. - No, no, no, no!
- Oh, no!
No!
- [groans]
- Wow. A real stunner here.
- Ah, balance, man. - Meagan Martin...
- Good job, Meagan. You're all right.
- Just didn't seem comfortable with her approach, Akbar.
- Yeah, Matt, you just gotta attack it.
You can see exactly where her height hurt her.
She comes up short on the second tire right there,
and takes a hard fall.
Balance obstacles always seem to take out some of the best.
- Dang it. Ugh!
That's the first time I've fallen on a balance.
- We are coming to you from the Dome
at America's Center in St. Louis.
It's night two of our semifinals.
Back in qualifying, all three members of
David Wright's fun-loving Cake Crew hit the buzzer.
Tonight they got their shot at the semifinals course.
First up was Alex Carson, whose specialty is cheesecake.
- Extra calories won't hurt anybody.
- The Kansas City engineer
looked sweet on the balance obstacle...
- Hey, give me that little shimmy shake.
Little shimmy shake.
- But his night ended on a sour note
as he sent the bar spinning on Slingshot.
- Oh! Splish-splash.
all: Ohh!
- That was fun though. Man, that was fun.
- Up next was the leader of this trio, Da Cake Ninja,
Houston's David Wright, who eats cake before each run.
- Sweet tooth for success.
- In just his second season,
the 20-year-old was hungry for another buzzer.
- Get ready, young fella!
- The lifeguard survived the wild ride on Corkscrew...
- Whoa! - Let's go!
- And looked like he was on his way to a finish,
but he couldn't handle the final leap on the Dungeon.
- Sliding! Oh! - Oh!
all: Ohh!
- Ah, at the finish.
- Now up, it's the third member
of that cake-loving group.
This is Amir Malik.
This rookie got a buzzer in qualifying,
which is really surprising,
considering just a few years ago
he thought he might never play sports at all.
- I'm gonna do it.
Growing up, I was just a crazy kid.
- Nice landing, Amir. - I loved to play sports.
I wanted to try everything. - Go, Amir!
- But when I was eight I told my mom,
"My heart just feels funny."
I was diagnosed with Wolff Parkinson White syndrome.
It's basically an extra
electrical pathway in the heart.
It can cause the heart to skip a beat.
If I pushed myself past this limit...
[heartbeat thudding]
I would have had a heart attack.
[tense music]
- We had to monitor him.
They told him he wasn't allowed
to do competitive sports.
I just remember being really scared.
You can go into cardiac arrest. You can have an event
where your heart just can't reset itself.
- I really didn't play any sports.
I kinda took a break from everything.
It was extremely hard.
Then when I was 14, I had a procedure.
- Amir's surgery was a little over seven hours.
They let me be there with him until he was put under.
You know, to watch your kid go into surgery,
it's--it's really scary.
You just sort of think about things that could go wrong.
[dramatic music]
♪
- After the surgery, I started doing ninja that December.
As soon as I got in there, I was in love with it.
[determined music]
- Knowing what he went through,
I couldn't be more proud, honestly.
- Amir Malik looking good.
[cheering]
- To be told you're never gonna do sports again,
I never thought that I would've
come this far in this sport.
- First time on the course. - What?
- Flawless. Gets that buzzer!
♪
- I feel like I was meant for ninja.
♪
- And Amir's throwing some love to his mom
and the rest of his family watching from back in Vermont,
and his cake buddies will be on the sideline.
- All right, Sonic, let's go!
- David Wright yelling for Sonic.
That's Amir's nickname.
Those two have become fast friends.
[countdown timer beeping]
20 years old, 5'5", 115.
- Whoo, that's light even by ninja standards.
- And he's an amateur baker.
That's why David Wright, Da Cake Ninja, loved him.
Now on Spring Forward.
[cheers and applause]
Well, he runs with abandon, and look at him,
bouncing across these bars in one continuous move.
- Oh, that's what I'm talking about.
- That was impressive.
- That's the advantage of being 20
and 115 pounds, Akbar.
- But he's so lightweight, he may have trouble
generating momentum here on Clockwork.
- Looking confident for a rookie.
And look at him, again with these fluid moves.
- Whoo-hoo-hoo! - And now, only 5'5",
gotta make big strides here on Burn Rubber.
- All right, you gotta go sonic boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! - Oh, no!
- Nice! - What a recovery.
Just avoids disaster there.
On now to Slingshot.
This 20-year-old rookie from Vermont
trying to earn a spot in the finals.
Probably gonna have to get to the eighth
or ninth obstacle to move on.
- Efficient!
Less amount of swings! Prepare for the drop!
- All right. - Oh, no!
- But this bar is uneven, Akbar.
He is struggling on this obstacle.
- He's gotta correct it on the up.
Nice, just like that.
- But he is making it an adventure here on Slingshot.
- Matt, no one had heard of this kid before this season,
but people are starting to notice Amir Malik.
- One more drop.
- Nice. - Whew!
And that left side is barely hanging on,
but he is through.
- There we go. - Let's go, Amir, come on!
- Come on, dude. You got it.
Breathe. Take a second.
You don't have to go straight into it.
- Well, we saw him get up this Warped Wall in qualifying.
- And a little bounce, there it is.
Sonic on the back half.
- It's over there. It's over there.
- I gotta go get it, man. - Go get it, go get it.
- Well, hard to believe this energetic kid
had a heart condition,
and they thought he might never play sports,
and look at him now.
[cheering]
- Well, this is where it gets real.
Gotta take on the Salmon Ladder
and then go right into Corkscrew.
- And he's up, gotta jump it up four rungs.
- Boom.
Boom, boom. With authority.
He's only 115 pounds, so he should be able to carry
his body weight through this eighth obstacle.
- Can he hold on?
- Yes, Sonic! - Whoo!
Not even legal and was able to handle Corkscrew.
- Now a big lache, almost four feet up!
- Get up! - Sonic's got it, hangs on!
- Oh, okay! - One more to go.
Gotta jump up almost four feet to get it.
- Stay straight! Let's go! Lock it in, go!
- Ooh! - Ooh! Okay!
- Didn't have quite the height.
He survived the spins.
Now just needs to get out of there, and he is through.
- Nice! - Sonic boom!
This rookie broke the buzzer in qualifying.
Trying to get another one tonight,
but first gotta survive the Dungeon.
- These young gun ninjas are amazing!
- Here we go, on to this ninth obstacle, the Dungeon,
same obstacle where his buddy
David Wright fell just minutes ago.
- Those two have become like brothers these past few weeks.
- Get to that bar! - And you know Amir would love
to one-up his bro and get through this.
- And they're getting to show us what the future
of ninja looks like.
Come on.
Are you kidding me? Look at this.
He's making it look easy!
- Is he even sweating? Is he even sweating?
- Amir Malik, this kid's gonna have time
to make a cheesecake.
- Pivot that door. Pivot that door!
[cheers and applause]
- And he is through, the first to make it this far tonight.
- [laughs]
- This breakout rookie,
cheered on by last year's breakout rookie,
now has a chance to be our first finisher.
- And just to think that Amir Malik hasn't even
reached his peak.
He's 20 years old.
- Well, now has to climb 35 feet up the Spider Trap
and get through those heavy doors.
Can Amir Malik get that buzzer?
He'd be the first rookie
to finish this semifinals course this season.
- Matt, them doors weigh almost as much as he does,
so it is going to require a lot of strength.
Nice. - Putting his back into it.
One side, the other.
- Elbow and everything, he's gotta use
all of his body weight. That's a lot of weight.
- Well, you're seeing-- you know what?
He's doing a phenomenal job with the flexibility,
locking in the lower body, Akbar.
- Yeah, look at that. - Fighting through it.
Looks like he's doing a squat.
- Let's go, Sonic! Finish it!
Lock it in! Let's go, come on!
- Only ten feet away from the top!
- Knocking out these 100-pound doors.
- He's at the top door. Can he get through it?
- Oh, losing traction, losing traction.
- He's slipping! - Losing traction!
- Oh, no! - Hold on! Fight for it!
- You got it! Fight it! Fight it!
- This is where he may--no!
- No!
- Oh, at the door but can't bust through.
So close to the top,
but Amir Malik comes up just short of a buzzer.
- It came down to this final obstacle.
In that last ten feet,
Amir's shoes started to lose traction
as he pushed through those final doors.
Tried to save it but just couldn't.
About as close as you can get
without hitting a buzzer.
- No! - I know!
- It's all right, man. It's all right.
- Love the camaraderie on this team.
- I beat you. [laughter]
- Amir Malik beat his buddy David Wright,
but they could both end up in the finals.
The Phoenix is about to rise.
Najee Richardson hits the course next
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to St. Louis and the semifinals
on "American Ninja Warrior," and while we were away,
the night's smallest competitor
took her shot on the course.
- Let's go! - Whoo!
- Taylor Johnson wears her height, 4'11",
on the back of her shirt. - Whoo!
- She may be small, but, ooh, she is a beast!
- The former college gymnast
from Foxborough, Massachusetts,
made her way across the first two obstacles.
- Look at the height! - Whoo-hoo!
- But at 107 pounds,
she couldn't generate enough swing on Clockwork.
- Oh! Just missed it. - Oh!
- Come back next year ready to go.
- Then it was the Papal Ninja, Catholic church worker
Sean Bryan, who had his family and his priests watching.
- All right, here we go.
- The former college gymnast came back
from a shoulder injury
to put up one of the fastest finishes in qualifying,
and he looked like he was going
for another top time tonight.
- He's timing himself, Matt.
- But instead the five-time veteran
shockingly slipped up on the fifth obstacle,
Slingshot.
- Oh, no! - Oh!
- Oh, my goodness! - Next year.
- We love you, Sean! - We love you, Sean.
- A real shock.
Sean Bryan was a contender to win it all.
Well, here comes another one of our top competitors,
out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Najee Richardson.
Najee wearing the Ninjas for Black Lives shirt,
like so many athletes this season.
Najee has been one of the leaders of this movement,
and for him it's a very personal cause.
- Ninjas for Black Lives is just about,
hey, I got your back.
We're gonna make sure that we tackle this problem head-on.
[somber music]
There have been so many instances for me.
I remember specifically being attacked
by a group of young boys.
And they're saying racial slur
after racial slur as they're attacking me.
And when the police came,
I was the one that was detained.
♪
And I just remember sitting in the back of the police car
and thinking to myself, "How did I get here?"
Luckily,
a waitress and a hostess ran up to the officers.
They explained what happened. They let them know,
"Hey, this kid was attacked. He did nothing wrong."
♪
I got lucky from the kindness of strangers.
That infuriates you,
because you realize that you are not
in full control of your safety in this country at all,
and it's simply because of your skin color.
♪
I never want another kid
to have to go through the experience
of being threatened simply because they're existing.
♪
And if I can do anything to stop it from happening
and to change the course of history,
you can bet I'm gonna be on those front lines.
[cheers and applause]
- Najee Richardson already started his run;
now on the fifth obstacle, Slingshot.
- And he's moving pretty well,
but has been taking some deep breaths.
- Well, Najee has asthma,
and it sometimes impacts him on the course.
Has to keep his breathing under control.
And he's smiling, Akbar. He is smiling!
- He knows what's up.
- You know what? I love it.
- You got it, man. - This is about fun.
Najee's having fun,
and just something we all need right now.
- Yeah!
- There are his girlfriend and dad watching,
along with his mom, grandparents,
and 97-year-old great-grandma, Esslie.
- There we go, all right.
- Plus Joe Moravsky
and Michael Torres on his sideline.
Now facing the Warped Wall,
and then he'll be headed to the back half.
And flies up the wall.
- What's up, guys?
- Your great-grandma watching! Put on a show.
- That's right. Grandma.
- There she is.
Najee putting a smile on everyone's face.
- Well, now the road gets tougher
with these final obstacles,
starting with the Salmon Ladder.
- All right, Naj, all right.
[cheers and applause]
- Salmon Ladder expert, so good at it.
And look at him. He's reversing it.
We've seen a few ninjas try it this way.
They think it gives them more control, and you know what?
I think it's a little more bicep.
He's maybe trying to preserve some of that muscle
for this one, the Corkscrew.
- Yeah, Matt, so much is involved on the Corkscrew.
He's gotta get that wide grip
to anticipate holding, get in tight.
You see how he hugs it, hugs in tight?
That's exactly how you wanna control the spin.
The centrifugal force is real.
- As someone who laches, he knows
how to control his body, absorb it.
- Nice. - Great job by Najee.
[cheers and applause] - Whoo!
- He is powering through the Corkscrew.
- Nice! - A little more on front.
- The wider grip really does
help to control that centrifugal force.
- Whoo! - And he's got it.
But again pausing to catch his breath,
asthma really impacting him tonight.
- Come on, you got this. Let's go, Naj.
- Moravsky offering encouragement.
- And endurance has always been an issue for Najee.
With that asthma, he's only finished a ten-obstacle course
once in his career.
- You got this, baby. You got this.
- Gonna try to gut it out through the Dungeon.
- You got it.
- You know Najee's not giving up without a fight.
He wants to be in next week's finals.
- And almost to the top, but what will he have left
for that climb across?
This new obstacle is a gauntlet.
- You got this. - Shaking out the arms.
- He's gotta carry 165 pounds across
on these pegs that are vertical.
- This horizontal traverse on the vertical handholds
is so challenging, but Najee looking locked in.
- Now, Matt, once he gets to the end, he needs to lache,
and that could peel his hands off.
- Get this! - But not now!
- And threw himself right into that wall,
rotating it 180,
and Najee's gonna get through Dungeon!
[cheers and applause]
- Matt, he got it, but he looks wiped out.
- All right.
- Whoo!
- Come on, get off that thing!
- I'm gonna need that inhaler, dude.
- Well, he's calling for his inhaler.
Michael Torres gonna run it over
so he can get his asthma medication.
When he takes a puff,
it opens up the airways in the lung,
making it easier to breathe.
- And remember, Matt, two years ago,
Najee had trouble breathing
when he had to swim underwater on the Water Walls
on stage two in Vegas.
He thought he might drown.
- Well, I don't know if he can continue,
still breathing hard.
But look at this. He's gonna keep going!
Gonna do everything he can to finish.
- Man, that man ain't got no quit in him, Matt.
This is Najee Richardson! - Breathe deep, Najee.
35 feet to get that buzzer.
- Let's see it. Fly up those doors, man.
- Come on, buddy.
- Well, Matt, he took his inhaler.
Now he's gotta go all the way up, try to get it.
- Spider Trap, three sets of 100-pound doors.
There it is, 50 and 50. - Nice, oh, he's a--ooh!
- Look at him springing up, Akbar.
- He's got a little boost of energy.
- Well, you really gotta lock that lower body in
to be able to push those doors up,
and Najee, oh, my goodness!
- He made those 100-pound doors look like nothing.
Look how he's pushing that open.
- Akbar, this Phoenix is rising!
Ladies and gentlemen,
your first buzzer of the night!
[upbeat music]
[cheering]
- Give it to me, Najee!
♪
- What a moment, and there it is,
Ninjas for Black Lives.
- Yeah, Najee!
- Nice, nice.
Najee wanted to spread his message,
and he did just that.
He could barely breathe, but he kept going
and would not stop despite his asthma
and made it to the buzzer, our first finisher tonight.
- The Phoenix is back on top. Najee, congratulations.
How did it feel to hit that buzzer?
- It felt so good.
I ha--I didn't hit a single buzzer last season,
so to do this feels great.
- And you are proudly repping
the Ninjas for Black Lives movement.
So beautiful, so important.
What do you wanna say to the folks at home about that?
- Oh, I just wanna tell people, you know, we're out here
just trying to spread a positive message.
We're here. Solidarity is key.
And it's just about making people understand
that we're for them
and we're here and we're supporting them.
- We're proud of you. Congratulations.
We will see you in the finals. Great job.
- All right.
- Don't forget, next week we kick off the finals,
where 28 of the best ninja athletes in the world
will be fighting to get to the Power Tower
and win the $100,000 prize,
and there's more to come tonight
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to "American Ninja Warrior,"
where it's night two of our semifinals.
While we were away, we saw two athletes
who made it here tonight thanks to their mentors.
First up was Orlando's Jessica Helmer,
aka Jessica Rabbit.
She came out to run for buns
and raise awareness for rabbit adoption.
- She's got her pet rabbit Enni watching.
- Helmer fell on the first obstacle back in qualifying...
- Oh!
- But was saved for the semifinals when R.J. Roman,
who invited her this season, won on the Power Tower.
- You got this, Jessica!
- Tonight Helmer got redemption
on the Shrinking Steps
and made it to the third obstacle before her run ended.
Oh!
- Oh! What's up, Doc?
Jessica Rabbit didn't have the hops.
- Then it was another athlete getting a second chance,
rookie Jeshuah Lewis.
He was one of the two young ninjas
brought this season by veteran Joe Moravsky,
and the Weatherman saved Lewis
for the semifinals with a dramatic win
on the Power Tower back in qualifying.
Jeshuah Lewis and William Schlageter are moving on!
And tonight Lewis took advantage of his opportunity,
racing to the back half of the course.
- There it is.
- 22-year-old rookie and killing it.
- Hey!
- But the rookie's impressive run ended
when he reached Corkscrew.
- That's it. Oh!
- What?
Look how much that drops.
- Well, here comes the other young ninja
saved by Joe Moravsky,
and, whoa, you can tell he's excited to be here.
This is 22-year-old Will Schlageter,
and getting to compete this season
was a big item on his bucket list.
- Ever since I was 14, this has been my dream.
I was too young at the time,
so my dad got to run the course in my place.
- Out of Lancaster, PA, Bill Schlageter.
[horn blares] Oh!
- He only lasted for about four seconds.
- Well, seven more years before the son gets out here.
- And now I'm here competing with Joe Moravsky.
- Will has been waiting to get on the big stage
for so many years.
Practically half of the kid's life
has been spent training for this moment.
He's got the drive right now, and I know Will can do this.
- But in qualifying, unfortunately,
I didn't do as well as I wanted to.
No!
- Oh, no! - Oh.
- I was sad, obviously.
Oh!
But thanks to Joe winning on the Power Tower...
[air horn blares] Yes! Yes!
Tonight I get a shot to redeem myself
on the semifinals course.
I am so excited
'cause he's been such a big inspiration for me,
and I'm not going to waste this second chance.
- You're back, boys.
- Will was devastated about falling early,
so I'm excited to see him get another shot at the course.
He's got that passion, you know?
And I think that's the key.
- Here I am, and I hope I can just spread this message
of work hard for your dreams, and it will pay off.
Of course it'll pay off.
How could it not?
Hey, guys!
- Gotta love his enthusiasm.
He's gonna have a ton of family support,
including from his pops, who ran for him years ago.
On the sidelines, the mentor who saved him
from elimination back in qualifying...
- All right, man. - Joe Moravsky.
[countdown timer beeping]
Will fell on the third obstacle a few weeks ago.
You saw him say it, he's gonna bring it here in the semis.
Doesn't want an early exit.
- You got this!
- And jumps up to start Spring Forward.
- Well, his nickname is Will da Beast,
and yet he looks like a nerdy scientist,
and how does he keep those glasses on?
- Just graduated this summer from
the University of Rochester with three degrees.
Now working as a biochemist,
trying to solve Spring Forward.
- Nice. - And the Beast is doing it.
One last lache here.
Whoa, a little too much on the landing, but he's through.
[cheers and applause]
Now staring down Clockwork.
- Ahh! - Lets out the primal yell.
He's going full beast mode.
- This should give hope to all those young ninjas
who are out there training.
They may not be old enough to compete yet,
but just like Will Schlageter, if they keep working at it,
their day will come.
- Absolutely.
- Yep, one more. Here we go, here we go.
- You see, laying that body out, great job.
Making the most of his new life on the course.
- Hey!
- Moravsky's really been coaching up
his two young ninjas.
Will da Beast now facing Burn Rubber.
- All right, hey, a lot of speed.
Right on top of it, okay?
- It's all about that footwork, Akbar,
lead foot, then the transition.
- Positive reaction! - Hopping through.
- Positive reaction! - And the Beast survives it.
And he's getting pumped up.
- Look at that. Moravsky pumped up too.
- Will da Beast trying to ride that momentum into Slingshot.
- Ahh! - He's taking full advantage
of this second chance Joe Moravsky earned him.
- All in the hips.
Good. There we go.
Get a pretty bounce. - Moravsky really taken
these two young ninjas under his wing.
He's given them so much advice on the course and off.
You can see those bungee cords
make that bar react so unpredictably.
- Oh, Matt, you can see his core's not tight,
and he's shaking and moving.
- Oh, but survives the big drop there.
Now a big jump up.
[cheers and applause] - Get off.
- Matt, and now he's gotta kip up
and be able to land it inside of the cradle,
and he's pulling down on it. - All right.
- He's pulling down to try to max out those bungee cords.
- Kip! - Nice!
- He's getting up, but you can hear the effort, Akbar.
Will he have anything left in the tank
if he makes it to the back half?
- Whoo, Matt!
I mean, he gave everything he had on this one.
- [shouts]
- And look at this, he's made it to the Warped Wall.
And his dad Bill's gotta be so proud of his son.
- Beat that wall!
- Has a black belt in taekwondo.
He's gonna have to fight for this one, Akbar.
all: Beat that wall!
- Nice! - He's the best around.
No one's gonna keep him down!
- Will da Beast! - Yeah!
[cheers and applause]
- Here he is on the back half of the semifinals course.
- You got this Salmon Ladder. - And Mom is right.
He should have the Salmon Ladder.
He's been training on one since he was 14.
Now finally facing it in competition.
- Uh-oh, look at this. He's taking off the shirt.
He's like Clark Kent ripping the suit off.
- Yeah, there you go.
- His dad wants to rip his shirt off too.
These two are in it together.
- I thought he was gonna take his glasses off.
- Hey, he's pretty buff for a biochemist.
Living out his childhood dream right now.
- Yeah, gotta do the Salmon Ladder just like he did
back when he was practicing in the garage at 14.
- And he is through. Now on to the Corkscrew.
We saw this take out his friend Jeshuah.
Four-foot drop, gotta hang on.
- Oh, he couldn't even mess with it.
- Oh.
- Well, he just had nothing left
in the tank at Corkscrew, but a great run by the rookie.
- Hey, nice run, dude. That was insane.
- Good job.
- Will da Beast went wild on the front half of the course,
but even after taking his shirt off,
he couldn't quite get a handle on Corkscrew,
but an impressive run
and a dream come true for this rookie.
And even though they stayed on for the whole run,
he finally lost his glasses at the end.
- Coming up, we've got a lot more ninja favorites
ready to take their shot on this semifinals course,
including Joe Moravsky...
- Oh! - He got it!
- And Jessie Graff.
Her fifth buzzer.
Plus Lance Pekus has shared the story of his wife's battle
against multiple sclerosis.
Now he's helping her the cowboy way.
Their story when "American Ninja Warrior" returns.
- Welcome back to the Dome in St. Louis.
We're about halfway through our second night
of semifinals here on "American Ninja Warrior,"
and, Akbar, we have already seen
quite a few surprises tonight.
- Yeah, Matt, and even some of our top ninja stars
have gotten tripped up here tonight.
Just in the past few minutes, our most experienced ninjas,
the three guys who have competed on every season,
got their shot at the course.
Up first was Colorado's 33-year-old Lorin Ball.
- This man can go fast.
- Ball rolled through the first three obstacles.
- Real nice. - But the former break dancer
didn't have the right footwork for Burn Rubber.
- You can use your hands there.
What a s--no!
[air horn blares]
- Ah! Ah!
- Then it was 37-year-old Brian Kretsch,
and he too had trouble on Burn Rubber.
- Stumble, stumble, rolls through.
- The California gym manager
then made his way to the back half.
- Holds on.
- And the wily veteran survived
the first two spins on Corkscrew.
- Oh, my! - Yes, yes, yes, yes!
- But not the third.
- One more drop!
Oh, no!
- Oh!
- Finally, it was the Godfather, David Campbell,
the night's oldest competitor at 43.
He also stumbled on the balance obstacle.
- Oh, no! What a save!
- The pizza delivery man made it to the back half
before he became yet another victim of the Corkscrew.
- Oh, no! - Oh, no.
- It's okay. I had a fun run.
[western music]
[bird caws]
- Well, that music can mean only one thing.
Zuri, get our cowboy started.
- St. Louis is the Gateway to the West,
the perfect place to find the Cowboy Ninja.
We're talking about Idaho rancher
Lance Pekus, of course,
and don't let the black hat and mask fool you.
He's one of the good guys.
He's a devoted husband to his wife Heather,
who has multiple sclerosis,
and recently he's found a way for her to cowboy up.
- Swing your right leg over.
Put your feet in your stirrups.
- Heather grew up on a horse. She loved riding.
♪
Because of multiple sclerosis and her battle,
Heather hasn't been on a horse in three years.
- And you're ready to go.
- Our daughter Gracie is now seven years old,
and she loves riding, and I could tell that
Heather was feeling a little left out when she saw
how much Gracie was into it,
so I got a horse trained real well,
and we were able to get her onto the horse
for the first time in three years.
- I love riding with you, Mommy.
- Being able to see them ride together
and the smiles and the happiness,
it is heartwarming,
and it brought us to tears almost.
It's unexplainable, really.
♪
She's had ups, she's had downs,
but it's that spirit of her never giving up
that definitely helps
give me that motivation to keep pushing.
♪
[cheers and applause]
- Well, so many have been touched
by Lance and Heather's battle,
and there's one of them.
That's fellow ninja Kat Henschen,
whose husband has MS.
Lance invited her to compete back in qualifying,
And there's the other ninja Lance invited, Luke Mickelson.
[countdown timer beeping]
- Matt, this has truly been a special season,
all about lifting people up, and I don't know anyone
who embodies that ninja spirit more than Lance Pekus.
- This is now his ninth season competing.
- Spring Forward might knock off
his cowboy hat, Matt.
Whoo!
- This guy can generate a lot of power, 5'7", 160,
but he's riding it.
- Come on, Dad! Yay! Whoo!
- His two kids,
Gracie and Grayson, getting excited.
Great job by Pekus.
- Oh, a tip of the hat to Spring Forward!
- Beat that wheel!
- Gracie saying, "Beat that wheel."
She's talking about this next one, Clockwork.
It's about the timing to get to that second sprocket.
That was smooth.
- His power's generated by his beef.
All right, here we go, cowboy.
- Watch it here. - Nice.
- I don't know how competes in jeans, man.
Country boy can survive.
- Well, he's gotta take that hat off.
Maybe the next one, the shirt comes off.
- Now on Burn Rubber.
Easy to get tripped up here, Akbar.
- Come on. You got this, Lance.
- Giddy up, cowboy. He literally has to get up.
He's gotta get high. Come on, giddy up.
- Gonna have to do a two-step! - Giddy up! Giddy up!
- Oh! - Daddy!
- Lance Pekus bucked on Burn Rubber,
just peeled out of that middle wheel,
and a reminder, any ninja, any obstacle, any time.
- Matt, the cowboy tried to two-step that middle wheel,
and it spun backwards on him.
That threw off his timing,
and he nearly missed that third wheel completely.
- Oh, he's obviously disappointed.
- Daddy, you're coming home.
- Yeah, Grayson's right. The silver lining is
he gets to go home to that beautiful family.
Coming up, she does great things
on the course and off it.
Nurse Mady Howard is up next
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to the Dome in St. Louis,
where our semifinals roll on.
While we were away,
San Diego photographer Alex Nye
got his shot at the course.
He was invited to compete this season
by ninja great Meagan Martin.
- Alex Nye the Ninja Guy.
- Nye hit a buzzer in qualifying a few weeks ago.
- Yow!
- But tonight wasn't so picture-perfect,
as he was bounced out on the fifth obstacle,
Slingshot.
- Oh! - Oh, no!
- Wow.
Say good-bye to Alex Nye the Ninja Guy.
- Then one of our top women athletes, Tiana Webberley,
got her chance on the course.
The six-time ninja veteran from Palmdale, California,
made it to the buzzer back in qualifying.
[horn blares]
- Your first buzzer! Congratulations.
- Tonight, with her family watching,
the 28-year-old was looking for another big run.
- She's putting in work.
- She sailed through the first two obstacles
but shocked everyone when her hands slipped off
the final bar on Clockwork.
Oh, no!
- Oh, so close!
- More power for next year. Thanks, guys.
- Well, here comes another one of our top women.
This is Utah's Mady Howard.
Like Tiana, she hit her first buzzer back in qualifying.
- Go, Mady!
- She's part of this strong group of women tonight,
including those on her sideline, Meagan Martin
and Jessie Graff, who will run later.
Mady's a hero off the course as well.
She's one of the frontline healthcare workers
we've been celebrating all season long.
Mady works as a nurse in an intensive care unit
that's been dedicated to COVID since March.
- We're here. Take a deep breath in.
- As a rookie last year, Mady was a breakout star.
- Whoo!
That's what I'm talking about, Mady!
- And made it all the way to the national finals.
- Oh, shoot!
- But she never hit a buzzer.
Two weeks ago,
with a big group of doctors and nurses cheering her on,
she broke through.
- Yes! Yes!
Okay, Mady!
- Mady Howard does it!
- That's what I'm talking about!
- I've been dreaming about hitting a buzzer
since last year, so it's unreal.
- From the frontline to the finish line.
That was amazing.
- All my coworkers are super excited.
We've really had to have each other's backs
over these past few months.
I'm just excited to show them what I can do.
♪
It's great to be moving on to the semifinals,
but I'm not done yet.
[machinery beeping]
[cheers and applause]
- And Mady will once again
have a big group of supporters back in Utah,
including her husband and other family members.
[cheers and applause]
[countdown timer beeping]
This is just her second season,
but she is establishing herself
as one of the top ninjas out here.
- And, Matt, you said it, so many great women
in the semifinals group tonight,
but only two are guaranteed to move on, and look at Mady.
She's smiling, feeling confident.
- 5'6", 118, long and powerful,
a lot of gymnastics background,
knows how to fly, been working on her rock climbing,
good grip strength.
- Yeah, she is a rising ninja star.
- Ooh, good tumble there. - Look at that.
- Whoo! - Comes up with the dismount.
- That was nothing. She meant to do that.
- Good form. The judges give her a ten.
- Mady, go big!
- On now to Clockwork,
gonna have to use that frame to generate power,
get all three sprockets moving.
- Only 118 pounds,
so she's gotta work to build up some momentum.
- Some trouble getting them moving, Akbar.
- You got this! - Let's go!
- Coming off of Spring Forward,
it can be very disruptive.
- There it is.
Knows how to move that body, is a gymnast.
Use those hips to get the power.
- You've got this one. - You can see, laying out.
- Nice. - Great job by Mady Howard!
- You can see, she was like, "Yeah."
[cheers and applause]
- But now facing Burn Rubber.
- Keep it forward. You got it.
- Meagan Martin offering advice.
She fell on this obstacle earlier.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa! - Oh, no!
Mady Howard is out!
- She burned rubber!
- This obstacle's been knocking out
top ninjas all night long,
and gets the Ninja Nurse, Mady Howard.
- You're awesome, Mady! - Good job, Mady!
- It went wrong on that second wheel.
She landed on the back side instead of the top
and could never regain her balance after that.
- Now it's time for the night's youngest competitor,
and definitely the youngest-looking.
This is 19-year-old Tage Herrington,
a rookie who blew us away with his buzzer in qualifying.
This Arizona college student comes from a huge family.
He's got 12 siblings.
His mom called him Baby Boy Blue.
That's how he got the nickname Ninja Blue.
There's Mom and Dad and all the siblings
they can fit in the living room.
[countdown timer beeping]
- This kid is a rising star.
He's been beating big-name ninjas in local competitions.
- One of only three 19-year-olds
to finish the course in qualifying.
Oh, my. - He completed the--
- Are you kidding me? - Look at this!
I told you he was just gonna fly through it!
This is nothing for him!
- 5'9", 120.
- Matt, he's just smiling
like he's got nothing to worry about.
He's just a kid in a candy store on these obstacles.
- Now taking on Clockwork.
Looks like he's feeling it out.
Makes the grab.
But at 5'9", has some long leverage,
and he's using it, Akbar.
- Whoo!
- What a start for Tage Herrington.
- And his hair's still in place too.
- My goodness. Well, watch it though.
- Nice, go, go, go, go!
- And those wheels barely moved!
Herrington looks like the little kid
from the Andy Griffith show.
- Yeah, he was a top five finisher in qualifying,
made it look easy, impressive for a rookie.
- Well, he knows how to move fast.
When you're in a family of 13--
- Oh! - Oh, no!
And one mistake, and it's over for Tage Herrington.
So disappointing 'cause I think he had a buzzer in him, Akbar.
- Matt, I think he was a little bit reckless.
He looks like the smiling kid in your neighborhood,
and most kids love slingshots,
but this slingshot didn't love him back.
He got caught behind the metal support bar right there,
and his impressive rookie season is over.
- Coming up, the pandemic changed his wedding plans.
- Michael, you may kiss your bride.
[cheers and applause]
- My life has been in hyper drive.
- Now newlywed Michael Torres is ready for another big day.
We'll see him when we come back
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to St. Louis.
While we were away, Army captain Jeri D'Aurelio
took on the course.
She had the support of Team Jeri,
including her drum-playing dad.
- Go, Jeri!
♪
- D'Aurelio just completed airborne school,
and she was flying on Spring Forward
and smiling the whole time.
- Great power, too, out of D'Aurelio.
- Whoo!
- This six-time veteran survived Clockwork
and then faced Burn Rubber...
- Bounce! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
- Which had ended the run of so many others tonight.
- Be all that you can be!
- And she made it to the fifth obstacle,
Slingshot, before her run ended.
- Oh! Dang, that thing is tricky!
- But it guaranteed her a top-two spot among the women
and a ticket to the finals.
- Man, I had fun out there.
I just wish I didn't do whatever I did.
- Well, it is a loaded field in the semifinals,
and here comes another top competitor.
This is Chicago's Michael Torres.
While a lot of activities have slowed down in 2020,
for Torres, this year's been a whirlwind.
- It's been a pretty busy year.
I've done a lot of growing up really fast.
I have been working on building our new gym,
working on a house that I just bought,
and I have gotten married.
- Thank you so much for being here
to show your support to Michael and Sarah.
- Planning a wedding during a pandemic
is probably the hardest obstacle I've ever done,
and I thank God for my wife.
We probably had about 180 people
watch our virtual wedding.
Everything went amazing.
- Michael, you may kiss your bride.
[cheers and applause]
- Congratulations. Cheers.
- To win "American Ninja Warrior" season 12
would mean so much to be set up with $100,000
for our future family.
I feel like this is gonna give me the edge
over any of the other competitors.
I'm gonna be one of the guys to beat.
♪
- Torres already on the course.
He's on the fifth obstacle, Slingshot.
- Come on, Mike! [cheers and applause]
- Whoa! - And he is flying through it.
- I like that, but you know what he did there?
He rode the momentum.
That takes a lot less grip strength.
- Really clean!
- High risk, high reward.
Torres makes it look easy.
Right through it.
and he's got an army of supporters,
his new wife, Sarah,
and their dog, Hershey.
- Let's go.
- Along with his family back in New Jersey
and a couple of his Chicago training partners,
Ethan Swanson and Chris DiGangi.
- Come on, Torres! Let's go!
- Trying to get to the back half,
gotta get up the Warped Wall.
- Come on, Michael. You got this.
- And he's doing it in jeans.
- Little stumble there, Akbar,
but gets through the Warped Wall.
- All right, Baby Face Ninja.
- Baby Face Ninja. Well, he's only 25.
It's okay to have a baby face.
This guy, though, a legitimate chance
to win it all.
- Let's go, Torres!
- Getting a lot of support from his buddy, Ethan Swanson.
- He's gonna need it, got the Salmon Ladder
and then the crazy Corkscrew.
- Okay, here we go. - Fly through this, Mike.
- Gotta jump it up four rungs.
- And he's got the ninja skills to do it.
- He does. - He's got the baby face,
but like I said in qualifying,
he's got that grown-man strength.
- Right up it.
Well, if he can get through Corkscrew,
almost guaranteed to move on.
- Well, he wants to keep them Ls
and have them at 9:00 and 3:00.
Nice. - Great job controlling it.
- Yeah, having it at 9:00 and 3:00
really allows you to control that centrifugal force.
- But much more difficult to do it
'cause you have a big lache here.
Hard to get that perfect hand placement.
- Power, power, nice!
- One more! Locks it in.
Torres, what strength. One more drop.
- Matt, you can see his--
this thing will get your legs twisted,
your body moving all sorts of ways.
- Ooh, that left hand looked like it almost missed.
- He's got stretch jeans on.
[cheering]
- And he is through.
His family getting excited by this run.
Najee Richardson the only finisher we've had so far.
- Come on, Michael! Come on!
- Torres now facing the Dungeon.
- Let's see what he's got.
He's gotta make this quick climb.
- Well, with a new home back in Chicago,
I'm sure he could use that prize money
if he can win it all this year.
Torres could be there at the end.
- But he looks a little winded.
- Gotta climb back across those pegs.
- This course is playing tough tonight,
but we're due to see another finisher.
Come on. [overlapping chatter]
- Gotta make this transition here, this board.
- Yeah, buddy, hold on.
- Hard to get the hands to release...
- Get out of there! - And grab on.
- Matt, you see that right hand saves him there,
gives him a little extra hook.
- Come on, Michael.
- And he is through.
Only the third to reach this point tonight,
and he's ahead of Najee Richardson's time.
He could have the fastest time of the night.
- Go get that buzzer!
- You heard his wife said,
"Baby, you better hit that buzzer."
- 35 feet between him and a buzzer.
[overlapping chatter]
- Michael Torres so far tearing this course up.
Now Spider Trap.
- And just looking so strong.
- Let's go. Let's go, babe.
Come on, you're almost there. You're almost there.
- Come on, Mike. - Finish it, finish it.
- These doors are slowing him down,
but he's still ahead of Najee's pace.
Struggling with his traction.
We saw Amir Malik fall here earlier,
and about 5 more feet,
but Akbar, those legs seem to be giving out,
kinda going in knock-kneed there, a little awkward.
- Yes! - Let's go!
- And Michael Torres, can he hold on?
You gotta get both doors locked in.
- Everyone knows. He had to work for it.
- He's got it!
Michael Torres, our second finisher of the night.
[upbeat music]
- [indistinct shouting]
- Thank you, God, for keeping me strong.
In your name I pray, amen.
- Well, his prayers have been answered.
He's going to the finals.
- Whoo!
- Michael Torres has got a family now,
so he's got a lot of motivation to go all the way.
He survived Corkscrew and the Dungeon
and battled through those last few feet on the Spider Trap.
He's our second finisher tonight.
- Still to come,
it's the Wonder Woman, Jessie Graff,
and the Weatherman, Joe Moravsky.
Two of the very best
just ahead on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to St. Louis,
where Corkscrew has been creating
all kinds of chaos on the course,
so it's no surprise this wild ride
has been selected the winner of this year's
Obstacle Design Challenge.
And if you've got an obstacle idea,
go to ANWNation.com.
We might pick your obstacle for next season.
If your design wins,
we'll send you on an epic trip
to Universal Orlando Resort,
where you'll experience heart-pounding thrills
and mind-blowing adventures
at their three incredible theme parks.
And while we were away, Orlando's Ben Melick
got his chance on the course.
- Let's go, Ben! - Go, Ben!
- Melick made it into the semifinals
when his buddy R.J. Roman won on the Power Tower
back in qualifying.
- Yes!
- And the ninja who used to run
dressed as Tarzan came out swinging.
- Bam! Bam! I like that!
- There we go.
- But the five-time veteran's timing
was way off on Clockwork.
- Get around that arc.
Oh, no!
- Oh, what?
- How did that happen? - Dang it.
- Then it was the man who saved Melick,
as rock and roller R.J. Roman
came out ready to shred this semifinals course.
- Whoo! Come on!
- You mess around and blink, you'll miss the whole run.
He's that fast.
- Whoo!
- The musician from Orlando put up the fastest time
in his qualifying night,
and he came out smoking again tonight.
- R.J. Roman is the total package.
- Yes!
- After a quick spin on Corkscrew...
- Whoa!
- And a close call on the Dungeon...
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
- Holds on! - That right hand saved him.
- Whoo! Yes!
- The 24-year-old climbed the tower
to become our third finisher
and clocked the fastest time of the night.
- Good job, bro! - Whoo! Yes!
- I'm tired.
- Well, up next is a man who always brings
a superior sense of style to the course.
Dancing his way to the start line,
out of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina,
this is Devin Harrelson,
and they don't call him Dougie Fresh for nothing.
And taking a selfie before he runs,
he's done that for five straight years,
and he's got another streak going
which he'd like to break tonight.
Uh-oh, uh-oh!
- Yes, light them up. Light them up.
Where he get them lighted-up shoes from?
♪
- It's a real challenge to keep your balance.
- Nice. Boom. Oh, my goodness!
- And he's got it!
- Coming into the qualifying round,
I felt stronger than I've ever felt
until I got to the Ferris Wheel.
- No, no! - No, not again!
- It's just so disappointing.
In six years, I've never hit a buzzer at all in competition.
- Not great control. - Oh, hold on, hold on!
- All the way through--no! - Oh!
- Come on, dawg! What? - Oh, no.
- I've never even made it to the national finals.
I don't know what it is.
[crowd oohs]
I come so close.
- Here he goes. all: Beat that wall!
- Come on, get it. Oh!
- Got his fingers up there. - We still love you!
- Maybe I'm jinxed,
but now I know what I need to do different,
and if tonight is the night for my first buzzer,
oh, man, I think my head is gonna explode.
Actually, I think I'm gonna break down
and whimper and cry.
Dougie Fresh is breaking through tonight.
♪
[horn blares]
[cheers and applause]
- Lots of family support for Dougie,
including his two young twins,
plus his older kids
and his ninja buddy, Bootie Cothran.
- Let's go, Dougie!
- And Najee Richardson leading the cheers
down on his sideline.
[countdown timer beeping]
- And I'm loving those '80s pants, Matt.
Reminds me of MC Hammer.
- But Dougie's got a shoe malfunction,
one shoe lighting up, one shoe staying dark.
Great shot on Spring Forward. You could just see--oh, my!
- Whoa! Okay!
Not spending a lot of time on that.
- You know what? Conserving--we talk about it.
You have to conserve upper-body strength,
and an efficient start for Devin Harrelson.
Lots of love for Dougie as he gets ready for Clockwork.
- Trust yourself. You got this.
- Najee offering some advice.
Dougie's talked about how supportive the ninja community
has been since he lost his gym last year,
and they have his back tonight.
- Nice. [cheering]
- One more sprocket.
Got it.
- Dougie is looking focused tonight.
[cheering]
- His legs are twitching as he faces Burn Rubber.
Taken out some good ones tonight.
- He's trying to get that other shoe to work.
Don't step on your shoestrings.
- Can he execute? - Nice!
- Wow! And now the shoe lit up!
- He hit it so hard, his shoe light turned on!
And a little shoulder shake to celebrate.
- Yeah! Shake it out, baby.
- Bootie likes it.
Matt, he bounded so hard through Burn Rubber,
it activated the lights in his other shoe.
- Now ready for the fifth obstacle,
where he went out in qualifying.
This is a new one in Slingshot,
and it's so challenging.
You can just see how the bar bounces on those cords.
- All right, come on now.
You activated the lights in your shoes.
You better activate that upper-body strength!
- Dougie's looking as confident as we've ever seen him.
You know how much it would mean to him
if he could advance to next week's finals.
He's doing a great job using his hips,
trying to keep that upper body calm,
generating kip with the hips, and a drop.
Real good.
- And reading his body language,
and you can see, trying to stay calm.
Stand right there.
- Oh, yeah! - Yeah! You staying calm.
That's good.
- Gonna get fresh on this Warped Wall.
all: Beat that wall! Beat that wall!
- When those lights turn green, go.
- Has made it up the Warped Wall,
just never when there's a buzzer there.
Let's see if he can get to the back half of the course.
He's up.
- Yeah! [all cheering]
- Yeah, buddy!
- Taking me back to the '80s with that outfit.
- Oh, I'm trying to.
- He's trying to, and he's doing it.
- Yeah!
- And if he can get through the Salmon Ladder
and then Corkscrew,
he'll have a good chance of making it to the finals.
- Visualize exactly what you wanna do, man.
- Najee giving strong advice.
- And he's got this Salmon Ladder.
It's gonna come down to Corkscrew.
- Going reverse.
Oh, my, one move!
- Oh, with a little bit of flair!
- Jumped it up two rungs.
And now the final two, and sets up for Corkscrew.
- Dougie Fresh showing how ostentatious he is.
Nice!
- Smooth, but this is the challenge,
this big lache up almost four feet to that second handle.
- It's all diffi--oh!
- Oh! Comes up just short.
- Ah!
- A good run, but Dougie is now
gonna have to wait and watch these final runners
to see if it's good enough to get him to the finals.
- Well, Dougie went all out on the Salmon Ladder,
jumping it up two rungs.
On Corkscrew, he survived one spin
but couldn't quite hang on to the second.
- Dang, that was fun.
Ha!
- It's the run everyone wants to watch.
Jessie Graff tries to punch her ticket to the finals
when we come back on "American Ninja Warrior."
- Welcome back to St. Louis.
While we were away...
- Dang, that was a big backflip.
- Longmont, Colorado's Austin Gray
got his shot at the course,
wearing his "Share Your Spare" shirt
to promote kidney donation.
The three-time veteran zoomed through
the front half of the course.
- If you want to place, you gotta keep up the pace.
- Gray survived the wild swings on Corkscrew
and then confidently climbed across the Dungeon.
- Ooh, he is ready.
- The 24-year-old climbed
to the buzzer and blew past R.J. Roman
for the fastest finish of the night.
- Okay, Austin! I see you!
- Then it was another young ninja talent, Lucas Reale.
With his family and friends
watching from back in Connecticut,
the 22-year-old had it rolling early.
- Yeah! Get excited!
- The three-year veteran handled Corkscrew
as well as anyone. - Oh, oh!
- Got it again! - Oh, okay!
- And then powered his way up and across the Dungeon.
- I think he's going for a fast time.
- The gym manager then climbed the Spider Trap
and finished even faster than Austin Gray
had done it minutes before
with the best time of the night so far.
- The real deal Reale.
- Well, now it's the ninja everyone wants to see.
Zuri, take it away.
- What do Wonder Woman and Supergirl have in common?
They both call Jessie Graff for help.
The stuntwoman is back for her seventh season,
and when she's not kicking butt on TV or in the movies,
she's tearing it up on the ninja course.
She's made it to the national finals
every year she's competed.
Jessie's tied with Flex Labreck
for most buzzers
among the women athletes with five.
- She's one of the most popular athletes
in the country.
A lot of people watching our own Wonder Woman,
including her mom, Ginny McCall,
a veteran of "Ninja Warrior," and stepdad Richard,
and also her dad and some other family members.
Down on the sideline, her training partners,
David Campbell and Sean Bryan, and even backstage,
all the other ninjas gathered around to watch Jessie.
[countdown timer beeping]
- She could hit this buzzer in the semifinals.
- Well, she wants to hit a buzzer tonight
but at the very least wants to qualify for the finals,
which start next week.
Once again, top two women moving on.
- All right, it's show time. - Wow.
- Ooh! - Good grip.
Jessie has a plan, such a cerebral runner.
- Matt, I gotta say I love the aggressiveness
that Jessie Graff is taking, I mean, with authority.
[applause]
- Collegiate pole vaulter,
she knows how to generate power, so strong.
Worked on her upper-body strength,
just making those sprockets move,
the timeless Jessie Graff.
- Nice.
One of the few things missing from her ninja resume
is a buzzer on a ten-obstacle course like this one.
- Well, it would be something to get it tonight.
This is an unforgiving course.
In this stacked field, we've only had five finishers.
Now this very dangerous balance obstacle, Burn Rubber,
which has taken out a lot of top ninjas tonight.
- Yeah, Jessie. - Bring it home!
- It's easy to stumble here.
- This one, she's gotta trust her athleticism.
- Knows how to stride long as a pole vaulter.
- She's a very calculated ninja!
Nice!
- Yes! Yes. - Nice!
- Breathes a sigh of relief.
- That obstacle has been a troublemaker all night.
- But not for her, and with that,
Jessie now in the top two among the women.
She's going to the finals.
- [indistinct shouting]
- Now she can concentrate on getting a buzzer.
- But right now concentrating on this next obstacle,
Slingshot.
Wow. - Nice.
- Bounding through, good start, Akbar.
Use that momentum to carry her right in.
- Yeah, and that's the secret.
- Watch the right side, though.
The bar a little uneven. She's correcting it.
- That Slingshot, it's got its bounce.
Use that bounce and that momentum together.
- And you can see those long falls, that takes a lot out.
Even Jessie Graff, she's gonna be feeling it.
- Now this one, she's gotta lache up here.
- That bar is uneven again, Akbar.
- She'll correct it.
- And that right side dangerously close.
Makes a correction, though, one more move.
- Absorb.
- And she's got it. Just needs the dismount.
And she is through.
[cheers and applause]
- Oh!
- Five tough obstacles behind her.
Now just the Warped Wall between her and the back half.
- There it is, come on. Come on, Jessie.
- Whoo! - You got this.
- Jessie Graff going back to the finals,
guaranteed her spot.
This used to be one of the unconquerable obstacles.
- Here we go. Got it.
- My, how things have changed.
And for the sixth straight year,
she's reached the back half
of this extended ten-obstacle course.
We told you how much it would mean to get a buzzer
on this extended course.
She's got four more brutal obstacles to go,
starting with the Salmon Ladder
and then Corkscrew.
- I know she can do it.
- She's up.
Gotta jump it up four rungs.
Worked on the strength in that upper body
and in the shoulders, that back.
- I didn't realize there were that many muscles in the back.
- That could be a salvation on Corkscrew.
Such good technique, here we go.
Get ready for a wild ride for our Wonder Woman.
- All right, come on.
Nice. Hold on.
Look at that. Is that a pirouette?
- Well, you know, I would say a powerful spin.
That was how Diana Prince turned into Wonder Woman.
Jessie Graff, can she make this big move?
- Nice! - She's up!
- Ooh, she got twisted around like a pretzel!
- [exhales deeply]
- One more move!
- You got this, Jessie.
- Another big ride for Jessie Graff.
- Come on, big swing.
- Oh! - What?
- Oh!
- She ran out of gas.
- Gave it everything she had,
almost made it through this difficult obstacle, Corkscrew,
and the good news, she's moving on.
[cheers and applause]
- Jessie looked like a Cirque du Soleil performer
on these Corkscrew spins,
perfect form with those legs out,
but, on the last one, she just had nothing left
to get up to that third wheel.
- But Zuri's about to deliver some good news.
- You definitely went far enough fast enough,
so we will see you in the finals.
Great work out there.
- Whoo! Thank you. - Guys, back to you.
- So now we're down to the final runner of the night.
It's Joe Moravsky.
The Weatherman storms the course when we come back
on "American Ninja Warrior."
- This second night of semifinals has given us
some great moments,
but now we're down to the final runner of the night.
It's the Weatherman, Connecticut dad Joe Moravsky.
He's a contender to win it all every year,
but the past few months have made it tough
to stay in shape.
- Which way do we turn?
Nope. Yeah.
During quarantine, I went from being a manager at a gym
to being a stay-at-home dad.
Going for a bike ride. What else we gonna do?
You guys have your muffins? Where'd they go? Ah.
- Ate them. - You ate them?
And it was tough because I couldn't really go anywhere.
There's no playgrounds to play on.
It's just, "All right, Dad's gonna go
try to do things with the kids out in the yard."
- I have a ice cream?
- You want some ice cream, huh?
I'm over there like,
"Just let me rest. I can't do it anymore."
Excuse me, back up, please. I need some space.
[laughter]
It was tough. I gained 15 pounds.
But I'm doing "American Ninja Warrior" this year
because Stephanie and I are expecting our third kid.
What?
She could be going into labor any minute now.
Welcome to the world, little guy.
My wife was like,
"Go win that money. Go bring home a title.
Go do it for the family."
So that's why I'm still here.
What do you want to say to the camera?
- Thank you! - [chuckles]
- Well, lots of family support for Joe,
including his very pregnant wife Stephanie
and those two kids who kept him
so busy these past few months.
Joe's taken on a paternal role
with the two young ninjas he invited this year,
Jeshuah Lewis and Will Schlageter.
- One obstacle at a time, baby!
- He saved them both on the Power Tower,
and they had good runs tonight.
He's giving them the Wakanda arm cross.
They're on the sideline with Najee Richardson.
Also watching this run closely,
Devin Harrelson, Dougie Fresh.
He's in the 12th spot, so if Joe has a good run,
he'll knock Dougie out
and keep the six-year veteran
from reaching his first finals.
Final heart to the family, and Joe's ready to go.
[countdown timer beeping]
- Come on! Have some fun, dude!
- With that third kid on the way,
Joe really wants to win that 100,000
that goes to the winner this year.
- Well, to earn a spot in the top 12,
Joe needs to get past Corkscrew.
[cheering]
But that's where so many have seen their seasons end
in these semifinals.
And he's through, now on to Clockwork.
- We know Joe Moravsky has the skills
to get far on this course.
Just has to avoid mistakes.
- Well, Joe says during lockdown he's--
he's ballooned up to the heaviest he's ever been
in his entire life, says he has a dad bod,
but he's moving that dad bod well, Akbar.
Up next, an obstacle
that's knocked out so many tonight, Burn Rubber.
- All right, here we go. Nice!
Look at Joe Moravsky.
- Perfect! Yes! - Let's go!
- Well, even with those extra pounds,
he's been impressive,
was the second-fastest in qualifying and won $10,000
on the Mega Wall.
Now facing Slingshot.
- And this is another one that's tripped up
some veterans tonight.
- But this obstacle is such a gauntlet,
and so easy to get that bar uneven.
- Yeah, Joe Moravsky rarely makes mistakes.
He's been very consistent in his ninja career.
He's made it to the national finals
every year he's competed.
Twice he's been the Last Ninja Standing.
- Joe's carrying some extra weight,
and you start to feel it on an obstacle like this.
- Yeah.
- But looking smooth, Moravsky.
[cheers and applause]
- Whoo!
- I have to say, even though he's 180 pounds,
he's carrying it well.
[cheering]
- Back to the Warped Wall.
He's closing in on a ticket to the finals.
[cheering]
Staying very calm, but this is the critical stage here.
- Should be fine.
- Needs to get through the Salmon Ladder
and Corkscrew to get his spot in the finals.
If he does, he'll bump Dougie Fresh from the top 12.
First up, four rungs on the Salmon Ladder.
- I don't think he's ever fallen on this obstacle.
Oh, with the skip!
- And just like that,
he's through and now moves on to Corkscrew.
- Hold on! Okay!
- Has to survive Corkscrew. Two more rides.
This is a big lache here, Akbar.
- A gigantic one.
- But he's up. - Oh!
- Great technique.
- This is like a tornado for the Weatherman.
- Can he do it one more time?
- Here we go, here we go. - Moravsky's up!
Holds on. Just needs the dismount.
And he's done it!
Moravsky's going to the finals.
- That was hard.
- Yeah. [laughs]
- But with that, we have to say good-bye
to Devin Harrelson,
the last runner of the night denying him his dream
of a first trip to the finals.
Well, Joe's now got two more obstacles to go,
staring down the Dungeon.
Lucas Reale has the fastest finish at five minutes.
Joe's got a shot at that, but he's only got about
a minute left for these two final obstacles.
- All right.
- Yeah, he would really have to turn up right now,
and he's gotta be worn out.
- Hey. - Nice, Joe, you got this.
- Flips the panel up. Now has to go back across.
This will really test your grip.
He's moving aggressively, Akbar.
- Oh, look at that. - Look at this!
- His hands are starting to slip a little.
- Come on! - He's out of there! Nice!
- Can your dad do this?
Joe Moravsky, 35 feet away!
He's got a little over 30 seconds
to get the fastest time,
but he's really gonna have to turn it on.
- Singlehandedly redefining dad bod.
- Not gonna let these youngsters
beat him to that buzzer.
- Oh, this is gonna be close.
- 20 seconds left!
He's got a shot, Akbar! - He does!
Did we push him to speed?
- Oh, these doors, though. - Uh-oh, he's struggling!
- They're slowing him down!
- Can he get the fastest time?
Ten seconds!
- Uh-oh, he might be able to get it!
- So close, Akbar!
- Oh, I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!
- Two seconds! - I don't know!
- One! - Ohh!
- Joe Moravsky delivers! - Wow!
- Whoo!
[cheering]
- Akbar, tell him what he just did.
- Whoa, Joe, you just got
the fastest time of the night!
- Whoo! - By one second!
- Whoo-hoo! Wow.
- You are now the Dad Bod Ninja.
Congratulations, man.
He needed to get through Corkscrew,
and he did, then turned it on
for the final obstacles to edge out Reale
for the fastest time by just one second.
Another great performance by the Weatherman.
- So Joe Moravsky sits atop our final leaderboard
just ahead of Lucas Reale.
Other finishers included Michael Torres
and Najee Richardson, and those Cake Ninjas,
Amir Malik and David Wright, are also going to the finals.
Firefighter Dan Polizzi will be moving on,
along with rookie Jeshuah Lewis.
And the two women advancing
are Jessie Graff and Jeri D'Aurelio.
Next week we move on to the finals.
- Yeah, that's right, Matt, and we move one step closer
to crowning a new ninja champion.
- Can't wait to see it.
For Akbar Gbajabiamila and Zuri Hall, I'm Matt Iseman.
We'll see you next time on "American Ninja Warrior."