American Ninja Warrior Junior Season 3 2021, Episode 13 – Semifinals #1

It’s time for the semifinals!!!

Let’s review the format:

Ninjas compete in three divisions: 9-10 years old, 11-12 years old, and 13-14 years old. They will compete in head-to-head races.

The semifinal round features four ninjas per division. They will start in a seeding round, with the two fastest ninjas from that round taking on the two slowest ninjas in the knockout round. The winners of the knockout round advance to the Semifinal Showdown.

The winner of the Semifinal Showdown and the ninja with the fastest time of the three other ninjas in the division will advance to the Finals.

Ninja Mentors: Jesse Labreck and Najee Richardson

9–10-Year-Old Division

The course: Hopskotch, Lunatic Ledges, Liquid Pipe, Broken Bridge, Flying Saucers, 13 Foot Warped Wall (with two hand holds)

Seeding Round: Liz Polsgrove vs Grace Schneider

“Lightning Liz” is 6-0 going into the semifinals. And she gets a puppy if she wins.

“The Flying G” is on a five-race winning streak and is capable of an 11 and ½ foot leap from one bar to the next.

Grace came off of Lunatic Ledges with the lead.

But Liz passed her on Liquid Pipes and never looked back.

Seeding Round: Sophia Krinker-Choi vs Caleb Keener

A pair of 5-1’s saw both ninjas fall, but Sophia took the win after falling on Broken Bridge while Caleb fell on Lunatic Ledges.

Knockout Round: Liz Polsgrove vs Caleb Keener

“Lightning Liz came of the Lunatic Ledges with the lead.

And the was bad news for “Little Cat” as Liquid Pipe (as usual) was where Liz takes over the race.

Liz hit the buzzer with her fastest time so far this season and advanced to the Semifinal Showdown.

Knockout Round: Sophia Krinker-Choi vs Grace Schneider

The pair were neck and neck going into Liquid Pipes.

It was there that “Flying G” took the lead.

She kept her slight advantage all the way up the Warped Wall where she set a new fastest time for the age group.

11–12-Year-old Division

The course: Hopscotch, Lunatic Ledges, Spike Crossing, Broken Bridge, Spring Forward, 13-foot Warped Wall (one hand hold)

Seeding Round: Bella Palmer (wildcard) vs Shae McCarl

Shae fell on Lunatic Ledges and Bella hit the buzzer for the win.

Seeding Round: Charlie Ball vs Josie Anderson (wildcard)

It’s the unbeaten Charlie vs the “Christmas Ninja.”

Josie took a single leap on Lunatic Ledge to take a surprising lead.

And she kept that lead all the way up the Warped Wall with a time five seconds faster than her previous best time.

Knockout Round: Bella Palmer vs Charlie Ball

Charlie set a fast pace early.

Trying to keep up, Bella fell on Lunatic Ledges.

Charlie hit the buzzer with his fastest time so far on his way to the Semifinal Showdown.

Knockout Round: Josie Anderson vs Shae McCarl

Josie hit another buzzer after Shae fell on Lunatic Ledges.

13–14-year-old Division

The course: Hopscotch, Lunatic Ledges, Sideways, Broken Bridge, Spinball Wizard, 13-foot Warped Wall (no hand holds)

Seeding Round: Tate Allen (wildcard) vs Phil Folsom

Tate invested his winnings from previous ANW Jr. competitions in stock, while Phil where’s the magic yellow pants on the course.

These two were even until Sideways when Phil took the lead.

But on Spinball Wizard, “Big Game Tate” linked his moves to take the lead for good.

Seeding Round: Jacob Arnstein (wildcard) vs Jackson Erdas

Another pair of sub 30 ninjas are running in this next race.

Jackson loves to wear shades while Jacob loves to cook.

As usual, Jackson raced out to the early lead.

Jacob stayed close behind, but he could not overcome Jackson.

Jackson moved to 7-0 as he claimed another win.

Knockout Round: Tate Allen vs Jacob Arnstein

“Big Game Tate” shockingly fell on the very first obstacle.

Knockout Round: Jackson Erdas vs Phil Folsom

A battle between the two fastest times in the age group so far.

Phil was there with Jackson through three obstacles.

And he stayed with him step for step even as the pair approached the Warped Wall.

It was up the Warped Wall where Jackson experienced his first stumble of the season.

Phil made it clean up the Wall to advance to the Semifinal Showdown.

9–10-year-old Final Showdown: Liz Polsgrove vs Grace Schneider

Flying G had the lead after one obstacle.

But the lead wouldn’t last as Liz passed Grace on Lunatic Ledges.

She kept that lead all the way to Flying Saucers, where Flying G nearly caught up.

But she slipped and fell on the fifth obstacle.

Liz fell as well, but she reached obstacle five first giving her the win!!!

But with the fastest time, Grace advances to the Finals as well!!!

11–12-year-old Final Showdown: Charlie Ball vs Josie Anderson

Can Charlie avenge his first loss of the season to Josie from earlier in the episode?

And Bella is looking on closely for a wildcard spot.

Both took one leap on Lunatic Ledges.

Josie had a the slight lead after Spike Crossing.

But Charlie hit Spring Forward with lightning Speed passing the “Christmas Ninja.”

Pushing to keep up, Josie hit the platform on Spring Forward.

Charlie hit the buzzer with the fastest time in the age group so far to advance to the Finals.

And it’s Bella who will take the Wildcard spot with her sub 40 time from a previous race.

13–14-year-old Final Showdown: Jacob Arnstein vs Phil Folsom

Phil raced out to the early lead.

Jacob stayed close behind with his fastest time so far in the competition.

But it wasn’t enough as Phil lead from start to finish on his way to the Finals.

And Jackson will advance to the Finals with the fastest time.

Your Finalists:

9–10-year-old division: Liz Polsgrove

Wildcard: Grace Schneider

11–12-year-old division: Charlie Ball

Wildcard: Bella Palmer

13–14-year-old division: Phil Folsom

Wildcard: Jackson Erdas

One more week of semifinals coming next week.

See you then.