American Ninja Warrior (2009–…): Season 12, Episode 6 - Semifinals 2 - full transcript

- 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.

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!

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

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!

- 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

- 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!

- 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.

- 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.

- 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!

- 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.

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!

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...

I would have had a heart attack.

- 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.

- * You can count me out
but watch me rise *

* I'm gonna prove the whole
world wrong tonight *

- After the surgery, I started
doing ninja that December.

As soon as I got in there,
I was in love with it.

- * This is for the underdog,
underdog, hey *

- Knowing what he went through,

I couldn't be more proud,
honestly.

- Amir Malik looking good.

- 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,
flawless.

Gets that buzzer!

- * This is for the underdog,
underdog *

- I feel like
I was meant for ninja.

- * This is for the underdog,
underdog *

- 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.

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.

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.

- 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!

- And he is through, the first
to make it this far tonight.

- 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!

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.

- 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.

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

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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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!

- 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!

- 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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

- 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.

- 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.

Beat that wall!

- Nice!
- He's the best around.

No one's gonna keep him down!

- Will da Beast!
- Yeah!

- 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!

- 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.

- 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.

* *

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- And Mady will once again

have a big group
of supporters back in Utah,

including her husband
and other family members.

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."

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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!

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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,

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.

I come so close.

- Here he goes.
- 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.

* *

- 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.

- 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.

- One more sprocket.

Got it.

- Dougie is looking
focused tonight.

- 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.

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!

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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!

- 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.

- 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.

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!

- 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.

- 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.

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.

- Whoo!

- I have to say,
even though he's 180 pounds,

he's carrying it well.

- Back to the Warped Wall.

He's closing in
on a ticket to the finals.

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.

- 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!

- 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."