Denver Finals

9 finishers in 6 cities. Is that a record? I remember 2 years ago, season 7, only had 11 finishers total. Denver was definitely a difficult course. First, a mini trampoline, which always sucks, but that caused more trouble in Qualifying, then the Rail Runner, The Wedge, and the Ninjago Roll, and, of course, The Elevator Climb. The Wedge is challenging in the sense that it requires strength, but also a lot of control and technique. I noticed with Meagan Martin she fell on it because she was stuck on the first jump, but when she tried to add more force to move, she added too much and took too big of a jump. The Wedge is a really challenging obstacle. Only 3 people have beaten the double wedge from Stage 2 (Drew, Daniel, and Jessie) and a handful have passed the single aside from the 3 tonight (Jake and Josh as examples). The added 3 were Lorin Ball, Jesse Lucero, and Ian Dory. Ball actually surprised me because I have never seen him as an upper body type, not insanely muscular, just like Matt said. He is a break dancer, and always struck me as more of a parkour body type. He narrowly made the Wedge, landing on his butt, but he made it. Perhaps the dancing helped him with body control or something. Maybe the biggest thing with the Wedge is knowing how much force to use when jumping. The people who passed and did well used short, quick jumps/bounces, whereas, some who failed took big jumps which ultimately caused the bar to be uneven when it landed. Keeping those L's really seemed to help.

Anyway, Ian Dory is really amazing. I mean, he has never failed to hit a City Buzzer! Even with the amped up Finals Course, Dory has always delivered. If anyone could finish the course, I would also have bet on Ian Dory. He was close to joining Isaac and Geoff in Stage 4, and he's really good. His prefect Finals record pretty much speaks for itself. He seems like someone who receives praise and hype only when he's up, but he is not someone who will pull in a lot in a big group. when he's up against some people like Drew, Jessie, Jesse, Josh, Joe, Daniel, even Brian and Meagan he gets a little overshadowed. I really like Dory, I think he has a really good shot. In my personal "USA" team, Drew Dreschel, Daniel Gil, Joe Moravsky, Josh Levin, and Ian Dory might be my 5. Anyway, he was the only finisher of the night, but he almost pulled a Gil. Similarly, when he was at the very top, he got his legs on the top, but almost fell backwards and failed. Thankfully, he pulled it off and barely hit the buzzer. I also really liked the way he attacked the Ninjago Roll. He took the uphill like he would rock climbing; it was the same motions. He was really impressive, so I am hoping he does well in Vegas.

Meagan I figured was going to go last, and she didn't necessarily disappoint. Jessie Graff put up the best run for women this season, and honestly, probably ever even with Kacy's finished run. However, Martin did make it to the 8th obstacle, and the Wedge was not easy. Like I said before, she took too big of a jump trying to figure it out, which caused her to fall. Lots of people had that issue. Either they immediately got crooked with the bar or the jumps were to large which dropped people. This was not as horrible as the Nail Clipper. The Nail Clipper took out 19 people, and the Wedge eliminated 13, so over 1/3 of the playing field, but not quite as many. 14 people were taken out before the Salmon Ladder/on the Salmon Ladder. I really wished Jake and Noah of the Wolf Pack were competing, but there was still talent. I also figured Jerri D'Aurelio was going to be the one to join Martin. With a female name as huge as Meagan Martin, the others weren't really in the spotlight.

I was bummed about Michael Stanger falling on the Salmon Ladder, and I was disappointed to see Dalton Knapp fall there as well. Fellow Knapp, Drew is going to Vegas, though. I thought the Knapps had a sweet story. Today, there is a whole new generation coming up, but it's not just new, younger guys. These are people who have grown up seeing the show, and have actually started training specifically for ANW, not just typical gym exercise. Plus, there are actually gyms meant for ANW-- Ninja Gyms. It's weird to think Dalton was in a hospital bed watching years ago as a teenager, and now he is able to actually compete. It's just really weird to think there are a bunch of 21 year olds rookies who have been preparing specifically for this show for years, and some are getting their shots at the National Finals alongside Ninja greats. I would have liked to see both Knapps in Vegas, though. Hopefully, they will both be back next year with veteran knowledge.

Another I wanted to mention was Jesse Lucero. Another Walk-on. He was still a walk-on his second year, but I'm thinking after this season, he won't have to be next time. He did really well. Every now and then there are people who aren't big names that still go really far. It is actually a surprise because people are "big names" because they are really strong and can deliver. I'm really hoping people who finished their Finals will have their runs in Vegas shown. There are only 9, so it shouldn't be that difficult. The finishers, definitely, but also people who reached the 9th obstacle, too, like Lucero. I have a feeling Lucero will be passed over in Vegas, but I think he should be shown because he did so well. Ball, Rosen, Steffenson, Coolridge, Stillings, and Yamauchi, are some people who got to the 9th or 10th obstacle and deserve to be shown in Vegas. Anyway, Lucero is someone I will be looking for in Vegas. Nick Kostreski also barely made it in the Top 15. I don't think he was shown in Qualifying, but I remember him, possibly because he finished. I didn't get to see him run because I missed the first part of the first hour, but I wish I did because it sounds like he fell in a somewhat interesting manner, going too far on the Wedge.

Karson Violes, Bart Copeland, and Dan Yager are a few veterans returning to Vegas, but were all taken out on the Wedge, I think. I was surprised by Ryan Souter, the only of the Souter siblings to reach the Finals, made it in the Top 15. I thought their whole 'Souter 7' was annoying, and only 1 delivered, so it was a bit of a disappointment, but I'm glad he actually made it.

I'm also glad Brian Arnold made it. He's not one of my favorites, but I still want him to do well. I think it's because he became so obsessed and he wants it really badly and he's losing time. He had his 15 minutes of fame when he went the farthest a few years ago, but he's definitely been booted out. He's still loyal and he's still strong, but, like I said, the young, new generation is coming in and knocking down walls. He still made it onto Team USA, even though Dory could have easily taken his place, so he's still kicking. Unfortunately, he still fell on the Wedge, his new enemy. I found it funny they put the Wedge in Denver, and I wonder if it was on purpose. He failed twice, and now three times, on the Wedge. Let's hope he can figure it out by Stage 2. He was actually fairly close to the dismount. He might have figured out the actual movements of the Wedge, and just needs to figure out the dismount. To be fair, Ball and Dory's dismounts were not too pretty. Lucero had a pretty much perfect one, so good for him.

Sam Sann was unfortunate. It was an anti-climactic run because he was disqualified. It would have been interesting to see how far he could go. I'm not totally convinced he would have done too well because of his recent back surgery. I really think it was for the best he didn't go too far. He probably shouldn't have been competing at all. James McGrath and Ryan Stratis were two other competitors who competed even with recent surgery, and both, when they ran (Stratis was last year, I think) showed signs of pain during their runs. So, it was probably good for Sann because he could have really injured himself. It was sad his run was ended because of being D-Qd, but what are you going to do?

Overall, I think all the courses were hard in their own ways. I still think some courses might be slightly more difficult than others, but there are also different people. There were 4 finishers in L.A., but that doesn't mean the L.A. course was easier than the Kansas City one. It could be the competitors. Levin, Andrews, Rayl, and Bryan were all impressive athletes. I would love to see other ninjas from other cities run the courses from other cities. For example, Joe in Daytona, or Drew in Kansas City, or Ian in San Antonio. As I have said before, Vegas will be the same for everyone, which is what matters. Vegas puts everyone on the same playing field. It's a big year. There is great potential; however, they could really change the courses to eliminate people.

I also noticed they said it was Kacy's last year. That is going to raise a lot of attention. I really hope she does well as a final sendoff year. More on that next week, when they talk about it.


P.S. if you have any insight or opinions or comments about ANW, please comment. I'd love to hear some other thoughts.