Here is a list of the 90 national finalists in American Ninja Warrior 4 who advanced to Las Vegas to compete on the Mt. Midoriyama replica uber-course that was built there. There will be 10 wildcards added to these 90 competitors to make an even 100 runners, which is the traditional number that competed in the original Ninja Warrior Japan (Sasuke) for many years. The identity of these wildcards will be revealed when the show airs.
15 finalists from each of the 6 regions (listed below in order of finish) fought their way through their respective regional rounds and then the regional finals to advance to the first finals of American Ninja Warrior held in the US. Mad props to all these competitors, and hit LIKE to applaud them and share this list to spread the word of their awesomeness!
Southwest Evan Dollard Jesse La Flair Kole Stevens Remi Bakkar Brent Steffenson Chad Simpson Derek Nakamoto Dorian Cedars Dan Mast Paul Darnell Sedderick Bassett Ryan Thompson Dylan Curry Ronnie Shalvis Jr Michael “Frosti” Zernow
Midwest Matthew Derouen Andrew Karsen Jack Morgan Stephen Volcko Arthur Skov Michael Silenzi Nick ‘Lovin’ Stephforn Johnathan Morin Scott Robinson Will Dodd Joshua Grant Andrew Lowes Nate Aye Nick Kostner Cade Halada
Northeast Tim Shieff Luis Moco Dan Galiczynski Chris Wilczewski Elet Hall Travis Graves Jesse Villareal Christopher DiGangi Andrew Wood Danny Johnson Bradley Smith Jr. Phillip Pirollo John Sapinoso Matt Mings Michael Pericoloso
Northwest James McGrath Travis Furlanic David Campbell Sean Noble Kyle Cochrane Justin Sweeney Josh Horsley Nathan Sausedo Justin Walcker J.B. Douglas Kevan Reoli Ben Snead Brian Kretsch Gunner Bahn Patrick McGrath
Midsouth Paul Kasemir Brandon Douglass Brian Arnold Jaret Salas Kevin Klein Sat Khalsa Ahmed Toure Josh Lobeck Lorin Ball Jake Smith Bob Pondrom Nathaniel Spencer James Wyatt Tremayne Dortch Alan Connealy
Southeast David “Flip” Rodriguez Drew Dreschel Travis Rosen Jared “J.J.” Woods Michael Ekhert Bull Bullard Sean Morris William Brown Thomas Hall Brendan Kelly Andy Taylor Adam Grossman Niko Bogucki Tony Reddick Paul O’Connor
The absolutely stacked Northwest region is on deck for this Sunday night on G4 and Monday night on NBC. Whenever discussion is had about the strongest region in ANW4, serious consideration has to be given to the Northwest as the creme de la creme. It has arguably 5 of the top 10 competitors in it, and inarguably 5 of the top 20 competitors.
David Campbell – Everybody who competes in ANW or watches ANW and/or Ninja Warrior knows David, and recognizes him as a top 3 runner year-in-year-out. He is a fierce competitor who is extremely consistent and focused. He made it farther than any American competitor in Sasuke 27 (Sasuke is the proper term for Ninja Warrior Japan), and has competed in Sasuke three or four times. Travis Furlanic – David’s nephew and a stud on his own, Travis was the only American Ninja Warrior competitor to make the finals and compete in Sasuke all three seasons. He is always a threat for getting the fastest time on any course he steps on. Brian Orosco – Brian Orosco is a superstar of American Ninja Warrior, has competed in Sasuke a bazillion times (disclaimer: not actual count), and is a member of Tempest Freerunning. James McGrath – James is the patron saint of all American Ninja Warrior walkons, having walked on in American Ninja Warrior 3 after having slept in his van, and then making it all the way to the third stage in Japan for Sasuke 27 where he absolutely destroyed the course until he failed at the infamous Ultimate Cliffhanger, getting as far as any American. Brian Kretsch – Brian is not as well known as these other four competitors, but has competed in all four American Ninja Warriors and made the semi-finals in ANW1. He trains with David Campbell and Travis Furlanic in Northern California, and anybody who has ever trained on the course with him knows he is a threat to win the whole thing. Check out our recent video interview with him.
Let me add the caveat that I don’t always know ahead of time which competitors competed where, so there is a good possibility that I am overlooking somebody terribly deserving who should be on this list! Give me a holler if you think there is a particularly egregious absence.
Good buddy and all-around ninja stud Brian Kretsch took some time to answer some questions from me about his experience training for and competing in American Ninja Warrior. Brian has competed in all four American Ninja Warrior competitions, and is a founding member of “Team Butter” out of Northern California with other well-known ninja warrior stars like David Campbell and Travis Furlanic. Along with David and Travis he also helped build the famous Death Sasuke course (RIP) where they have generously hosted fellow competitors to train over the years (I was there a month ago myself for Warped Wall training!).
On a personal note Brian has always been a great friend and supporter of mine in my unlikely ninja aspirations, so not only is he one of the top 20 competitors in my unbiased assessment, but he’s also one of the guys I root hardest for. Brian has a Facebook fan page, so go like him!
This past week’s episodes showed the great runs of 30 tough competitors in the semi-final round of American Ninja Warrior 3. The purpose of the semi-final round was to select the top 15 competitors who would advance to Boot Camp where they would have insane competitions to pick the top 10 athletes that would form Team America and get to go compete Ninja Warrior Japan (Sasuke 28). The semifinals utilized the opening round course of six obstacles, with modifications to a couple of them to make them more difficult (e.g. removing a bar on the Jumping Bars for only 3 bars instead of 4 covering the same distance), and then adding three more difficult obstacles on at the “end” of the opening round course. Competitors will be familiar with them by now: the dreaded Salmon Ladder, the Unstable Bridge, and the Long-Ass Cargo Net Climb (*not official name).
On what was a clearly exhausting and competitive course, the following top 15 competitors advanced, with basically completion of the Salmon Ladder being the threshold point between advancing to Boot Camp and going home. Of note…only one competitor completed the entire course, badass Ryan Stratis. Ryan’s a super-nice guy and very dedicated to his ninja-ness, and has made an amazing progression to improve every competition.
Here are the final results from the semifinal round. I was pleased to have 5 ninja buddies of mine advance to the Boot Camp round…mad props to Ryan Stratis, Chris Wilczewski, David Campbell, Travis Rosen, and Travis Furlanic.
1) Ryan Stratis – Completed Course 2) Chris Wilczewski – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:21.5 3) Paul Kasemir – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:23.37 4) Drew Drechsel – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:25.89 5) David Campbell – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:31.72 6) Brent Steffensen – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:33.78 7) Travis Rosen – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:34.89 8 Travis Furlanic – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:37.92 9) Dustin Rocho – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:46.52 10) Brian Orosco – Completed Salmon Ladder at 1:58.71 11) Brandon Douglass – Completed Salmon Ladder at 2:03.59 12) David “Young Flip” Rodriguez – Completed Salmon Ladder at 2:05.74 13) James McGrath – Completed Salmon Ladder at 2:06.44 14) Michael “Frosti” Zernow – Completed Salmon Ladder at 2:17.37 15) Alan Connealy – Completed Warped Wall at 45.2
Congrats to those 30 studs who concluded the opening round course in the fastest time to advance to the semifinals which should air this Wednesday Dec 15th on G4. Below is a list, from fastest to slowest, of those 30 who have forever grabbed a tiny piece of immortality in the world of obstacle course nutjobs. Special shout-outs to David Campbell and Travis Furlanic who helped train me at their personal course back in July, and to Ryan Stratis and Travis Rose who I hung out with a lot at the event itself. You guys are super-studs, and I look forward to watching to see how far you progress!
1) Trevor Vaughn in 39.05 seconds 2) David Money in 40.52 seconds 3) Travis Furlanic in 40.65 seconds 4) Brian Orosco in 41.23 seconds 5) Levi Meeuwenberg in 42.92 seconds 6) Ryan Cousins in 43.86 seconds 7) Paul Kasemir in 44.77 seconds 8. William Spencer in 45.75 seconds 9) Travis Rosen in 46.73 seconds 10) Chris Wilczewski in 48.72 seconds 11) Evan Dollard in 49.37 seconds 12) Sean Morris in 49.76 seconds 13) Richard King in 49.98 seconds 14) Caine Sinclair in 50.62 seconds 15) Ryan Brier Rachall in 50.69 seconds 16) Patrick Cusic in 51.62 seconds 17) David Campbell in 52.45 seconds 18) Dorian Cedars in 52.87 seconds 19) Shane Daniels in 55.07 seconds 20) Adam Laplante in 56.43 seconds 21) Andrew Taber in 56.50 seconds 22) Adam Truesdell in 57.62 seconds 23) Austin Greene in 57.96 seconds 24) Ibrahim Peek in 57.98 seconds 25) Ryan Stratis in 58.96 seconds 26) Lorin Ball in 59.74 seconds 27) Brent Steffensen in 1:02.74 seconds 28) Christopher Geis in 1:03.60 seconds 29) Thomas Hall in 1:04.67 seconds 30) Andrew Karsen in 1:06.02 seconds
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