Rookie Matthew Day was the second fastest Ninja for the second time

American Ninja Warrior debuted season 10 with the Dallas Qualifiers. The premiere introduced us to the capabilities of the new batch of 19-year-old contenders. Veteran Daniel Gil tore down the course for the fastest finish of the night. The second fastest time was held by rookie Matthew Day. In his debut run, he hit the buzzer at 2:09.62.

The Texas A&M student returned to the much longer and much harder City Finals course. Matthew managed to pull off a repeat performance. Once more, the only Ninja to beat him to the buzzer was Daniel Gil. Completing a City Finals course is a goal some veterans are still working towards. Matthew has now done it in under five minutes, clocking in at 4:37.10.

Heading on to his first National Finals, Matthew looks back at a rookie season which really couldn’t have gone much better.

“My season has been awesome. It’s been really fun. Hitting two buzzers and only being beaten by Daniel is really exciting. I didn’t think that I’d be placing that high compared to some of the guys that were out there.”

“My most memorable moment from City Finals was definitely getting through the Nail Clippers. After that I knew that I could finish. I was pretty excited after that point.

It feels great to be through to the National Finals. I’m really excited to get another shot on the course.”

“I’m not really nervous. I feel pretty relaxed. After City Finals I started working a lot more grip strength and grip endurance. I backed away from obstacles a little bit and worked on burn outs, stuff like that.”

“I’m inspired by pretty much all the Ninjas in different ways. One of my biggest influences is probably Karsten (Williams). I got to train with him and compete with him a lot. Thomas (Stillings) has become a really good friend of mine.”

“My diet has gotten a lot better. Much less fast food. Which is good for my body. It’s taken over my work. It’s taken over college too. I started working at a gym, teaching kids, and I decided that’s what I want to do. I’m going to go into kinesiology and hopefully physical therapy. Keep with that trend of working with kids.

The youngest kids I teach have just recently turned three and the oldest ones that I teach have just recently turned 15. I’ve done some classes with adults too.”

“I always remind myself that I’m here to have fun. Relax. Whatever happens, happens. It’s not that big of a deal.

I expect to hit a buzzer (on Stage One). We’ll see how that goes.”

Can Matthew keep his incredible streak alive? Find out when the American Ninja Warrior National Finals start on Monday, August 27!