Team Ninja Warrior recap: Qualifiers week 5

We might have just seen one of the most exciting episodes of Team Ninja Warrior’s second season! American Ninja Warrior fan favorites like Joe Moravsky, Kacy Catanzaro and Brent Steffensen fought tooth and nail to keep their teams in the game. The result was epic, history making runs.

TL:DR: Storm Team sent themselves to the finals after some jaw-dropping races. We saw the course speed record set and broken three times. All the match ups, except one, resulted in a Sudden Death tie breaker.

The match ups:

• Team Alpha vs Karsten’s Fast Kats
• Flowmingo vs Storm Team

A refresher on the Team Ninja Warrior rules is at the bottom of this article.

The Obstacles:

• Sonic Swing
• Ring of Fire
• Swing Jump
• Floating Tiles
• Fly Wheels
• Warped Wall

The Teams:

Team Alpha

• Brent Steffensen
• Dillon Gates
• Kacy Catanzaro

Karsten's Fast Kats

• Karsten Williams
• Kevin Klein
• Joy Strickland

Heat One:

• Team Alpha’s Dillon vs Fast Kats’ Kevin

The first race only made it to the second obstacle. Kevin experienced a big jolt on the Ring of Fire. He landed hard on his back before falling into the water. When Dillon completed the obstacle, the point went to Team Alpha.

Point= Team Alpha

Heat Two:

• Team Alpha’s Kacy vs Fast Kats’ Joy

Kacy almost landed head first in the water when she very nearly flipped over on the Floating Tiles. Joy headed for the same fate when she she also tripped there. Joy stayed in the game, but the delay gave Kacy the chance to reach the buzzer before her.

Point= Team Alpha

Heat Three:

• Team Alpha’s Brent vs Fast Kats’ Karsten

The two team captains were gunning for the points. They raced down the course keeping pace with each other. It was a super close race until Karsten completed the Fly Wheels first. Gaining that slight edge let him finish the course first, sending the teams into a sudden death match.

Points= Karsten’s Fast Kats

Sudden Death:

• Team Alpha’s Dillon vs Fast Kats’ Karsten

Karsten headed right back to the course to take on Dillon. He managed a smooth dismount from the Ring of Fire, while Dillon languished there for quite awhile. This allowed Karsten to build a huge lead. It looked like Dillon was closing ground by the Fly Wheels, but Karsten was off and up the Warped Wall before he could be a threat.

Point= Karsten’s Fast Kats

Winner of Round One: Karsten’s Fast Kats

In Round Two, Flowmingo would face off against Storm Team.

The Teams:

Flowmingo

• Alan Connealy
• JB Douglas
• Luci Romberg

Storm Team

• Joe Moravsky
• Josh Levin
• Allyssa Beird

Heat One:

• Flowmingo’s Luci vs Storm Team’s Allyssa

Both Ninjas got caught up on the Ring of Fire. Alyssa’s grip gave out and she fell. Moments later, Luci suffered the same fate. They were both disqualified, but because Luci had reached the obstacle first, she took home the point.

Point= Flowmingo

Heat Two:

• Flowmingo’s Alan vs Storm Team’s Josh

Team captain Alan really wanted his first Team Ninja Warrior win. He was first off the Ring of Fire and performed an impressively huge leap on the Floating Tiles. Josh caught up to him on the Fly Wheels, but Alan was determined to get to the buzzer.

Point= Flowmingo

Heat Three:

• Flowmingo’s JB vs Storm Team’s Joe

Storm Team sent in their captain to try to keep them in the match up. JB got a little wet on the Sonic Swing, but he had a total splash down on the Ring of Fire. One more time, we were heading to Sudden Death.

Sudden Death:

• Flowmingo’s JB vs Storm Team’s Joe

Rematch! Joe was flying down the course, only slowing for a moment to navigate the Floating Tiles. JB was looking to redeem himself and wasn’t going to give up easily. He caught Joe on the Fly Wheels and managed to pass him. JB was on his way up the Warped Wall when Joe reappeared with a vengeance. He some how managed to flip over the edge of the Wall first and scored a dramatic win.

Point= Storm Team

Winner of Round Two: Storm Team

Knockout One

Flowmingo vs Karsten’s Fast Kats

Heat One:

• Flowmingo’s JB vs Fast Kats’ Kevin

There was no rest for JB as he headed to the start line again for this match. The two competitors were totally in sync with each other on the Ring of Fire and Swing Jump. Kevin broke the pace when he crossed the Floating Tiles first. He tore through the Fly Wheels and up the Wall for the buzzer. He finished in 35 seconds, the fastest time of the season.

Point= Karsten’s Fast Kats

Heat Two:

• Flowmingo’s Luci vs Fast Kats’ Joy

In the first abbreviated run of the season, we saw Joy take the win after Luci fell on the Swing Jump.

Point= Karsten’s Fast Kats

Heat Three:

• Flowmingo’s Alan vs Fast Kats’ Karsten

It was all or nothing for the Flowmingos. Alan and Karsten headed into the Ring of Fire at the same time, but Karsten landed the dismount. Alan was stuck there for quite awhile, letting Karsten build a huge lead that facilitated the win.

But hey, Alan went out in style with a backflip off the Fly Wheels.

Points= Karsten’s Fast Kats

Flowmingo is OUT.

Knockout Two:

Team Alpha vs Storm Team

Heat One:

• Team Alpha’s Dillon vs Storm Team’s Josh

Dillon went for broke during this run! He jumped from the Ring of Fire. He landed a huge leap across the Floating Tiles. Josh managed to get on the Fly Wheels while Dillon was still there, but not for long. Dillon hit the buzzer at 33 seconds, another new record for the season.

Point= Team Alpha

Heat Two:

• Team Alpha’s Kacy vs Storm Team’s Allyssa

Kacy got her feet wet on the Sonic Swing, which is always cause for concern. Allyssa and Kacy were hung up on the Ring, but Allyssa freed herself first. Kacy missed her first grab for the cargo net on the Swing Jump and it looked like Allyssa was home free. But Allyssa fell on the Floating Tiles.

This gave Kacy the opportunity to recover her run and complete the obstacle, nabbing another win.

Point= Team Alpha

Heat Three:

• Team Alpha’s Brent vs Storm Team’s Joe

It was now or never for the Storm Team if they wanted to stay in the competition. Joe knew what had to be done. Brent had a slight delay on the Ring and missed his first grab on the cargo net. While that was happening, Joe was darting through the obstacles. He completed the course in 32 seconds, giving us another course record and another Sudden Death tie breaker.

Points= Storm Team

Sudden Death:

• Team Alpha’s Brent vs Storm Team’s Joe

Another rematch! Both these Ninjas were flying down the course. But the jolt on the Ring of Fire sent Brent into the water.

Point= Storm Team

Team Alpha is OUT.

Storm Team faced Karsten’s Fast Kats in the Relay Race.

In the relay, all three team members will be on the course at the same time. Each will complete three obstacles, meaning the course is extended. It’s up to each team to decide which member runs when.

Allyssa would start the course for Storm Team against Joy representing the Fast Kats.

After the Swing Jump, Joy would bring in Kevin. Allyssa would tag in Joe.

Once they were over the Warped Wall, Joe would tag Josh. Kevin would bring in Karsten. They would take on the upper body intensive extended course.

• Dueling Salmon Ladders
• Globe Graspers
• 40 foot Invisible Ladder

Relay Race:

Allyssa and Joy were tied when both were stuck on the Ring of Fire. Joy finagled the dismount. Allyssa fell from the ring, incurring a 10 second delay before Joe could run.

Kevin made the most of the delay and was up the Wall to tag in Karsten in the blink of an eye. But Joe running second was a smart strategy for Storm Team. He was able to quickly make up ground and brought in Josh shortly after Karsten started.

The two met on the Salmon Ladders. Karsten moved on to the Globe Grasper first and worked to maintain a slight lead. He also got to the Invisible Ladder first, but Josh is a world class climber. He’s a natural on the forty foot ascent. Josh closed the gap and passed Karsten, securing the win.

Karsten’s Fast Kats are out and Storm Team heads to the finals.

We’ll see you back here on May 23 for the sixth week of qualifiers, featuring four more teams.

• Real Life Beasts
• The Ballers
• Stratis Faction
• Labreckfast Club