All Stars 2019: Team competition recap

Welcome to American Ninja Warrior’s return! Season 11 doesn’t start until Wednesday, May 29, but we’re just a couple of days away from that, whetting our appetites with three hours of new Ninja!

It’s not an exaggeration when Matt Iseman calls the All Stars special the, “wildest Ninja night of the year.” The All Stars special is consistently one of our favorite nights of taping out in Las Vegas. It’s like the Ninjas get to play a massive game of, “I bet I can...” on the stages of the National Finals. There’s no real pressure. The stakes are simple, have the most fun you can. And the results are always pretty incredible.

Per usual, the All Star special consists of two parts: The team competition, and the skills challenge. In this recap, we’ll go over the team competition.

Click here if you want to jump over to the skills competition results.

The Teams

Team Kristine:

• Tyler Gillett
• Barclay Stockett
• Mathis “Kid” Owhadi

(Kristine has selected the winning team for the past two years. Can she make it a triple?)

Team Matt:

• Lance Pekus
• Jamie Rahn
• Jesse Labreck

(It’s worth noting that this is the same team from last year and they just missed out on winning. They’re hungry!)

Team Akbar:

• Grant McCartney
• Meagan Martin
• Jake Murray

The Scoring

• Stage one is a relay race. All team members participate. The team with the fastest time to the buzzer goes straight to Stage Three. The remaining two teams face off on Stage Two to see who’ll join them there.
• On Stage Two, in case of no team hitting the buzzer, the team who goes the farthest the fastest advances.
• On Stage Three, it comes down to the number of obstacles completed, and in what time. If a team member falls, the next member of the relay can begin their set of obstacles. The run does not end as it did previously on Stages One and Two.
• Need a reminder on the obstacles? Click here to review the stages of the National Finals.

STAGE ONE

Team Akbar:

• Team order: Meagan Martin, Jake Murray, Grant McCartney
  Time: 1:22.40

With a strong start from Meagan, Jake tapped in Grant at just under a minute. Akbar nibbled a corndog in delight.

Team Matt:

• Team order: Jesse Labreck, Lance Pekus, Jamie Rahn
  Time: 1:20.48

Jesse set the team up with a five second advantage. Lance’s strong obstacle leg gave Jamie a three second lead for his obstacles, putting Matt’s team in first place for the time being.

Team Kristine:

• Team order: Barclay Stockett, Mathis Owhadi, Tyler Gillett
  Time: Not applicable

Mathis, known for his speed, took a shocking fall coming off Tire Run that landed the team in third place.

Team Matt headed to Stage Three to wait while Team Akbar and Team Kristine faced off on Stage Two.

STAGE TWO:

This brutal stage only saw two finishes in the regular competition.

Team Kristine:

• Team order: Barclay Stockett, Tyler Gillett, Mathis Owhadi
  Time: Not applicable

Barclay looked powerful on the Criss Cross Salmon Ladder, but tragically, on the very top rung, she slipped off. This meant Team Akbar just needed to complete two obstacles to win the heat.

Team Akbar:

• Team order: Grant McCartney, Meagan Martin, Jake Murray
  Time: Not applicable

Grant was actually pacing slower than Barclay, which could have sent the win back to her team if he fell. But he was able to tag in Meagan, sealing their advancement. She completed the Deja Vu and splashed out on the Swing Surfer.

For the first time in three All Star specials, Kristine’s team is out! Matt and Akbar’s teams move to Stage Three.

STAGE THREE

Team Akbar:

• Team order: Grant McCartney, Jake Murray, Meagan Martin
  Time: 4:59.06 and six obstacles

After Grant slipped off En Garde, Jake took off in a fury to set a fast time. Meagan cinched the buzzer by powering through both the Cane Lane and the Flying Bar. With a strong time and only missing one obstacle, Matt’s team would have their work cut out for them.

Team Matt:

• Team order: Lance Pekus, Jamie Rahn, Jesse Labreck
  Time: 4:52.63 and six obstacles

This team had some unfinished business. They lost to Kristine’s team on Stage Three last year by just six seconds. Lance was moving at a faster pace than Grant, but he also fell on En Garde. Jamie was quickly through the Curved Body Prop, but Jesse had nine seconds to make up when she was tagged in after the Peg Cloud. Somehow, she managed to make up 31 whopping seconds on Cane Lane. She paused to shake out her arms before the Flying Bar, giving Akbar some false hope. She cleared the obstacle with a few seconds to spare, bringing home the win for Matt.

Winner: Team Matt!

You can find the results of the All Stars skills challenge here. American Ninja Warrior’s 11th season premieres on Wednesday, May 29 at 8/7c on NBC.