TV Recap: S13E06 – American Ninja Warrior Season 13 Semifinals Round 1 2021

American Ninja Warrior Season 13 2021: Semifinals Round 1 Season 13 Episode 6

Hello everyone. It’s time for the next round of American Ninja Warrior, Season 13. And this season, it’s the semifinals, not the City Finals.

The semifinals were filmed in Los Angeles this season, and this week is the first of four semifinal episodes.

Here’s the format:

The top 15 and top 3 women advance to the Finals in Vegas.

And here’s the course:

Shrinking Steps, Lunatic Ledges, Tilt-a-Whirl, Spinning Bridge, Wall to Wall, Warped Wall, Salmon Ladder, Corkscrew, Split Decision (Inverter or Tuning Forks), Spider Trap

Also, a redesigned Power Tower is here for the semi-finals. The top two finishers on the night will race on the Power Tower with the winner taking a Safety Pass (a chance at a do-over should they fall in the National Finals) to Vegas.

Christian Youst, 16-year-old Sophomore

Youst is an avid classic arcade game player.

And Youst had a classic run on the course completing the first half with few complications.

He even did a little showing off not using the full run-off for the Warped Wall.

Youst’s strong run continued onto the second half of the course.

In fact, his run wouldn’t end until the teen ninja fell on the Inverter, the new ninth obstacle.

During the break…

Christie Brophy fell on Lunatic Ledges.

Sam Sann fell on Spinning Bridge.

Karman Selby fell on Wall to Wall.

Isaiah Wakeham, 20-year-old Artist

Wakeham is here with his sister Isabella (and both qualified for the semifinals).

Wakeham is also an artist who runs Lucky Stripe, a company that makes art and apparel for special causes as well as much of the art ninjas wear when they run the course.

Wakeham was less artistic and more methodical as he moved through the first half of the course.

Corkscrew was quite the problem for ninjas when it first debuted.

But the first two we’ve seen get there tonight have had no issues as Wakeham moved onto the ninth obstacle.

It was on the Inverter that Wakeham’s run ended.

During the break…

Perry Madison fell on Tilt-a-Whirl.

Caleb Benson fell on Wall to Wall.

Tiana Webberley, 29-year-old Stunt Woman

Webberley has been working in MoCap, which takes her movements and transfers them over to video games and movies.

Maybe she should wear the MoCap suit for an ANW video game.

This would have been a good run to do that as Sweet T successfully completed the first half of the course.

Webberley’s strong run continued as she held on and made it past Corkscrew.

Sweet T’s night would end on Tuning Forks.

Before the break…

Weiwei Qin fell on Lunatic Ledges.

Wade Lopp fell on Spinning Bridge.

During the break…

Adam Naids fell on Lunatic Ledges.

Jade Buford fell on Tilt-a-Whirl.

Max Feinberg, 16-year-old Junior

Feinberg came out to the course playing the trombone.

And the self-proclaimed band geek had his father counting the obstacles as Feinberg moved through the first three obstacles.

Feinberg had some struggles on Tilt-a-Whirl. But he stayed with it on his way to completing the first half of the course.

Feinberg kicked his heels on the way to completing the next two obstacles.

But it was on Split Decision where Feinberg really separated himself from the rest of the competition so far.

Feinberg became the first ninja ever to get past the Inverter.

And after climbing up the Spider Trap, Feinberg is the season’s first Semifinal finisher!!!

Max Feinberg completed the course in 7:19.90.

During the break…

Christian Washington, Sophie Shaft, and Caleb Dowden all fell on Lunatic Ledges.

Zhanique Lovett, 34-year-old Personal Trainer

Lovett’s goal is to make it up her first Warped Wall.

Unfortunately, she didn’t make it to the Wall on this run as Lovett fell on Tilt-a-Whirl when the bar released before she was ready.

During the break…

Lance Pekus fell on the Inverter.

Brian Burkhardt, 27-year-old Attorney

The Law Ninja ran an advertisement for ninjas needing representation.

I think the lawyers where I live should hire Burkhardt to do their ads.

Not sure how one practices law full time and trains to be a ninja as well, but Burkhardt proved it could be done as he completed the first half of the course.

Now, will Burkhardt represent himself after the board on Wall to Wall drew blood from his nose?

Burkhardt continued his strong run past Corkscrew, where the Law Ninja was in position for the night’s fastest time so far.

To get there, Burkhardt bounded his way over Tuning Forks: the first to get past the balance obstacle.

Burkhardt had a little over a minute on the Spider Trap to claim that fastest time.

And with a little over a second to spare, Burkhardt took the top spot!!!

Brian Burkhardt completes the course in 7:18.59.

During the break…

KC Boutiette fell on Tilt-a-Whirl.

Jonathan Horton fell on Lunatic Ledges.

Isabella Wakeham, 17-year-old Junior

If both Wakehams qualify for Vegas, their mom will get a tattoo.

The two Wakehams qualified within a second of each other in the previous round.

And their similar paths continued as the younger Wakeham completed the first part of the course.

Wakeham then joined a select number of elite women who’ve made it to the course’s ninth obstacle.

And though she came up short on the Inverter, Isabella and her brother both qualified for Vegas (which means tattoo time for mom).

Before the break…

Chyna Hart fell on Lunatic Ledges.

Cory Torkelson fell on Spinning Bridge.

Michael Larlee fell on Wall to Wall.

During the break…

Owen Dyer fell on Tuning Forks.

Abel Gonzalez hit the buzzer!!!

Elijah Browning (joined in progress)

Browning was a star on ANW Jr., and he’s continued his strong runs here.

After completing the first half of the course, the Boss attacked Corkscrew with similar intensity as he completed the eighth obstacle (and lost his backwards hat in the process).

Browning’s run would end on the Inverter, but a spot in Vegas is likely for the Boss.

Deren Perez, 36-year-old US Coast Guard Officer

No one traveled farther than Perez, who came here from Guam to compete.

Joined in progress, Perez had no issues handling the distance of the first half of the course.

Perez’s strong run continued as he qualified for Vegas after completing Corkscrew.

Perez’s run would end on Tuning Forks.

During the break…

Anthony Porter fell on the Inverter.

Isaiah Thomas fell on Tuning Forks (both are going to Vegas).

Jody Avila, 35-year-old HVAC Technician

Avila represents the Dominican Republic, a place where his family is from and where the Big Dog Ninja spent his summers as a boy.

With family looking on, Avila looked strong through the first four obstacles.

But the Big Dog Ninja surprisingly fell on Wall to Wall.

Daniel Gil, 28-year-old Worship Leader

The Champ is here!!!

Last year’s winner was just short of completing Stage 4 back in 2019.

But the Kingdom Ninja fell on the fifth obstacle in qualifying.

That would not be an issue here as Gil had no issue with Wall to Wall, tonight’s fifth obstacle.

And as expected, Gil was pushing for the top time once he made it to the second half of the course.

Gil had more than four minutes to get that top time.

And Gil would get the top spot with minutes to spare!!!

Daniel Gil completes the course in 4:40.11.

Power Tower

Daniel Gil vs Brian Burkhardt

Gil and Burkhardt were even at the rope.

It was on the hoop where this one was decided.

Gil missed the bar on the 2nd part of the Tower.

Burkhardt used that distance to glide to the platform first and claim the safety pass.

Top Ninja Qualifiers from Season 13 Semifinals 1 advancing to the Las Vegas Finals for 2021:

Completed Course

  1. Daniel Gil
  2. Brian Burkhardt (Safety Pass)
  3. Max Feinberg
  4. Abel Gonzalez

Fell at Split Decision (Tuning Forks or Inverter)

  1. Owen Dyer
  2. Deren Perez
  3. Ryan Meeks
  4. Isaiah Thomas
  5. Christian Youst
  6. Elijah Browning
  7. Isaiah Wakeham
  8. Anthony Porter
  9. Lance Pekus
  10. Isabella Wakeham
  11. Tiana Webberley

Top 5 Women advancing to the Semifinals:

Fell at Split Decision (Tuning Forks or Inverter)

  1. Isabella Wakeham
  2. Tiana Webberley

Fell at Tilt-a-Whirl

  1. Zhanique Lovett

ANW will be off the next couple of weeks for the Olympics. We’ll pick up the semifinals when it returns.

See you then.

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