TV Recap: S03E2 – American Ninja Warrior Junior 2021 Qualifying Round 2

American Ninja Warrior Junior Season 3 2021, Episode 2 – Qualifying #2

Season 3 of American Ninja Warrior Jr. rolls on!!!

Let’s review this season’s format:

-Just like last season, ninjas will 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 qualifying rounds feature 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 two knockout rounds move on to the final showdown, where the winner will move on to the quarterfinals.

Also, this season: many of the obstacles were created by kids.

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: Aaron Deal vs Kade Skye

Aaron’s family howls as he runs (because his favorite animal is the wolf) while Kade is a part of the “Fun Squad” (his family when they sing songs and play pranks on dad).

The pair were even going into Lunatic Ledges.

But Aaron pulled ahead after the 2nd obstacle.

Kade made up some ground on Liquid Pipe.

But he got twisted on Flying Saucers.

Aaron jumped off the fifth obstacle first and took his lead to the buzzer.

Seeding Round: Gabriel Holder vs Sophia Krinker-Choi

Sophia is known as “Smiles” (because she never does when she’s running the Ninja course), while Gabriel is the “Math Ninja.”

Sophia fell on Lunatic Ledges and Gabriel hit his first buzzer.

Knockout Round: Gabriel Holder vs Kade Skye

In a tight race, Gabriel hit the buzzer and advanced to the Final Showdown.

Knockout Round: Aaron Deal vs Sophia Krinker-Choi

Sophia made it past Lunatic Ledges this time.

And she had a slight lead coming off Liquid Pipe.

That lead would only grow as she climbed the Warped Wall and advanced to the Final Showdown.

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: Jack Skye vs Molly Steffl

Jack is the second member of the Fun Squad to run today, while Molly was born with a cleft lip and palate.

Stress from bullying spurned alopecia. But Molly speaks out against bullying and encourages others dealing with the same issues.

Jack took the lead coming off Lunatic Ledges.

He kept that lead all the way to Spring Forward.

Molly stayed close behind and looked to close in on Jack as he missed his first two attempts up the Warped Wall.

But Jack made it the third time and took the win.

Seeding Round: Dylan Yee vs Grace Walk

Dylan plays the melodica, an instrument that’s been passed down through his family for a couple of generations.

Dylan built a strong lead as Grace spent a lot of time on Lunatic Ledges.

Grace stayed competitive throughout, but Dylan held the lead from start to finish.

However, Grace did hit her first buzzer.

Knockout Round: Dylan Yee vs Molly Steffl

Dylan took the lead on Lunatic Ledges.

And Dylan looked to be in great shape…

until he fell on Spring Forward.

That opened the door for Molly, who made it past Spring Forward and advanced to the Final Showdown!!!

But she didn’t stop there.

Molly missed the Warped Wall in her first run, but she didn’t miss this time.

Molly climbed the Wall and hit her first buzzer!!!

Knockout Round: Jack Skye vs Grace Walk

Jack and Grace alternated the lead throughout the race.

It came down to the Warped Wall, where Grace made it up and advanced to the Final Showdown.

13–14-year-old Division

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

Seeding Round: Sebastian Chrismer vs Asa Reynolds

Sebastian is the “Ghost Ninja” because he was born on Halloween and floats through the course, while Asa is a trained dancer.

Asa had the lead going into Sideways.

But Sebastian made up a lot of ground on the third obstacle.

That ground wasn’t enough as Asa made kept the lead to the end.

Seeding Round: Jackson Erdos vs Jacoby Herman

“Jaccident” stumbles frequently and is injured often while Jacoby has a special relationship with his hat.

But it was Jacoby (Jacobeast) who fell on this course.

Jackson, on the other hand, stayed upright the whole run and hit the buzzer with the fastest time so far.

Knockout Round: Jackson Erdos vs Sebastian Chrismer

Jackson kept his fast pace as he advanced to the Final Showdown.

Knockout Round: Asa Reynolds vs Jacoby Herman

Jacoby got past Lunatic Ledges (the obstacle that took him out the first race) this time.

But it wasn’t near enough to keep Asa from advancing to the Final Showdown.

9–10-year-old Final Showdown: Gabriel Holder vs Sophia Krinker-Choi

Sophia lost to Gabriel in the opening race.

But Sophia had the lead here on Lunatic Ledges.

Sophia’s best time is faster than Gabriel’s, and she kept showed that fast pace all the way to Flying Saucers.

A saucer spun on Sophia, giving Gabriel the chance to catch up.

But Sophia held on and hit the buzzer a split second before Gabriel did to advance to the Quarterfinals!!!

Sophia Krinker-Choi advances to the Quarterfinals!!!

11–12-year-old Final Showdown: Molly Steffl vs Grace Walk

Both ninjas took a cautious approach as Molly came off Lunatic Ledges ahead.

But Grace pulled ahead on Spike Crossing.

And Grace kept the lead all the way up the Warped Wall and into the Final Showdown!!!

Grace Walk advances to the Quarterfinals!!!

13–14-year-old Final Showdown: Jackson Erdos vs Asa Reynolds

Jackson attacked the course and took a big lead.

And I couldn’t even get a 2nd sentence typed before Jackson was done with the course.

Setting a new fastest time, Jackson completed the course in 26.77 seconds on his way to the Quarterfinals!!!

Jackson Erdos advances to the Quarterfinals!!!

Your Quarterfinalists:

9–10-year-old division: Sophia Krinker-Choi

11–12-year-old division: Grace Walk

13–14-year-old division: Jackson Erdos

That will do it for the first two episodes of this season of ANW Jr. See you next week.

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