The Kansas City course had a few surprises in store for Lance Pekus

During season eight of American Ninja Warrior, Lance Pekus took a very early fall on the Log Runner in the Oklahoma City Qualifiers. But he has fully announced his return in season nine.

In the Kansas City Qualifiers, Lance had the fastest competition time and was one of only 10 Ninjas to survive the course. On the City Finals course, he had his sights set on the buzzer once again.

But this course was full of surprises.

The Broken Pipes had given Lance a scare during the Qualifiers and the same thing happened again. After leaping for the pad, there was a terrifying moment where it looked like he might touch the water.

Lance had no issues with Crank It Up. He flowed directly from the last crank, to the dismount bar, to the landing pad in one motion.

As he tackle the Salmon Ladder, Lance got a good look at the next obstacle, the Flying Monkey Bars.

The obstacle required Ninjas to move and place the bars in very small cradles. There was not much room for error. Lance missed a cradle early in the obstacle, but recovered and pushed forward.

It happened again just a few swings later. But this time when Lance tried to swing the bar back into place, it caused the bar behind him to pop out of its cradle.

He was still clutching the bar in his hand when he came up from the water. But the run landed Lance firmly in the top 15, meaning he’s taking his cowboy hat back to Vegas!