NBC is sparing no expense in
looking for the very first American Ninja Warrior - the
one who will take home $500,000 for completing all four
gruesome stages of the American Sasuke course. Now the
eyes of Texas are upon our ninja wannabes, and for the
first time tonight, one woman will conquer the
unconquerable... Tonight, we start the search for the
American Ninja Warrior anew in...
DALLAS
The Cotton Bowl at Fair Park
Of the six obstacles,
three are making their ANW debut.
- Quintuple Steps
- Log Grip
- TILTING TABLE: An off-axis, seesawing bridge that's
divided into four quadrants.
- Swing Jump
- RING TOSS: Use two rings to surpass two boards of
ascending, then descending, then ascending again, pegs.
- Warped Wall - 14 feet, three chances
As before, it's
win-and-in. Hit the buzzer atop the Warped Wall, and you
are guaranteed a spot in the City Final. First up
tonight...
- Lauren Inmon (25;
Houston, customer service rep): FAIL Log Grip
- Karthik Rajendran (23; Katy, TX; lease support
analyst): ... He has six toes... and that still didn't
help him. FAIL Tilting Table
- Johnny Quinn (30; McKinney, TX; US Olympic
bobsledder): The guy who had to break out of his own
bathroom. FAIL Swing Jump. The ninth Olympian to take to
the course. So far, only Logan Dooley has completed it.
- Michael Moore (56; Sunnyvale, TX; entrepreneur): The
oldest person to run the course tonight... wants to be
the oldest to complete it.... FAIL Warped Wall
Tommy Zamora, Jared
Greer, and Tyson Faifer... all taking a tumble. In the
crowd today, four Ninja legends: Sam Sann, Drew Drechsel,
and the royal couple, Brent Steffensen & Kacy Catanzaro.
Three of them will run tonight. You'll see Drew in
Miami.
- Matthew Stinson (29;
Fort Smith, AR; farmer): FAIL Ring Toss
- Amber Johnson (33; Houston; professor): In two years,
she transformed her body and her life, getting from a
size 14 to a size 6. FAIL Log Grip
Among the fails in
fast-forward... Janice Ferguson (shoulder), Keith Kearny
(shoulder), and Michael Groselle (lip).
- Samantha Guthrie (31;
Gulfport, MS; stay-at-home mom): FAIL Ring Toss
- Karsten Williams (32; Plano, TX; youth fitness
specialist): COMPLETE! (3:36) - and Karsten becomes the
first player through to the City Final!
The course had victims,
but it also had victors - Jimmy Bogle Jr. (3:04), Jo Jo
Bynum (3:21), and Jennifer Jones (Swing Jump).
Now a special focus on
the Warped Wall. Fourteen feet high in the air, it looks
simple by design, but no woman has yet to conquer it.
There have been women who got CLOSE, but no one has
summit the peak. Yet.
- Nika Muckelroy (27;
Houston; metallurgical engineer): The first woman to
face the Warped Wall.... FAIL Tilting Table. And she's
in a world of hurt right now. It looks like her
shoulder. Not dislocated, but pretty injured.
- Jonathan Horton (28; Houston, US Olympic gymnast):
FAIL Ring Toss
- Sam Sann (47; Houston; gym owner) - he has trained 21
of tonight's competitors. COMPLETE! (3:03). The time to
beat SO FAR.
Midway through the
qualifier, we have..
- Zach McCall (30;
Detroit; motivational speaker): FAIL Ring Toss
- Rocky "Rapid Fire" Thomas (36; Clinton, AR; gospel
rapper): FAIL Log Grip
Brian Smith (Ring Toss)
and Hai Nguyen (Swing Jump) spent too much time building
up momentum, while Josh Morgan came up short on the Ring
Toss. But his family isn't done with the course yet.
- Mark Morgan (54; Pass
Christian, MS; hairstylist/MMA coach): FAIL Tilting
Table
- Jeremy Morgan (21; Pass Christian, MS; worship
leader): FAIL Warped Wall
Daniel Manuel (Warped
Wall) and Johnathan Morin (COMPLETE) may show up later.
Matthew Laessig... will join them! Fifth time's the
charm.
- Kevin Klein (25; San
Antonio; NFL entertainer) ... Basically a flag
runner/male cheerleader. COMPLETE! (1.33) Fastest time
of the night! So the trick to the Warped Wall: Jump UP,
not forward.
- Tremayne Dortch (28; Houston; personal trainer): Made
it to Midoriyama once... then started on his journey
into fatherhood. COMPLETE! (2:05)
Next is the run we've
been waiting for all night. The King of American Ninja
Warrior, but will his Queen be crowned tonight?
- Kacy Catanzaro (24; San
Antonio; former NCAA gymnast): ... SHE'S DONE IT!
COMPLETE! (5:26) History has been made in Texas tonight!
The FIRST woman to climb the Warped Wall! The FIRST
woman to complete the qualifier! Enjoy your moment, Kacy!
- Brent Steffensen (33; San Antonio; obstacle course
athlete): He's coming off of a weak season, failing at
the Salmon Ladder. This year.... FAIL Ring Toss. Well,
there's always a wild card... UNLESS he can hold on to
#30. There's ONE runner left and he has to make it to
the Ring Toss in under 45 seconds. Can he do it?
- Dillon Gates (21; San Antonio; college student).
Dillon is Brent's training partner. In order to get to
the City Final, he has to knock out his mentor. ... and
he has DONE SO (1:31.19).
LEADERBOARD
- DILLON GATES: 1:31
- KEVIN KLEIN: 1:33
- JOSHUA COOK: 1:41
- RAYMOND CLAUSEN: 1:48
- JARET SALAS: 1:58
- TREMAYNE DORTCH: 2:05
- SETH BLAUSTEIN: 2:11
- JORDAN YORDANOV: 2:13
- CONNOR MOYER: 2:23
- DAVID GILBERT: 2:33
- NATHAN JASSO: 2:43
- ERIC McKEETHEN: 2:54
- SAM SANN: 3:03
- JIMMY BOGLE JR.: 3:04.3
- MATTHEW LAESSIG: 3:04.5
- JOHNATHAN MORIN: 3:06
- TERRY COSSEY: 3:15
- JO JO BYNUM: 3:21
- ABEL GONZALEZ JR.: 3:29
- KARSTEN WILLIAMS: 3:36
- KACY CATANZARO: 5:26
- Jeremy Morgan (Ring
Toss)
- Brandon Pannell (Ring Toss)
- Geoffrey Lancaster (Ring Toss)
- Michael Solomon (Ring Toss)
- Geoffrey Motil (Ring Toss)
- Daniel Manuel (Ring Toss)
- Joe Calderon (Ring Toss)
- Engin Dolen (Ring Toss)
- Joshua Stone (Ring Toss)
All 30 will return for
the City Finals. But next week, the Ninja Tour is
heading to the gateway to the west, St. Louis.
For more information on the contestants,
including never-before-seen footage, or to watch this episode in its entirety,
go to nbc.com/anw
|