Earlier this summer we ran a story on Joseph Moravsky, the Sherman man who was competing on TV’s “American Ninja Warrior.” Tonight, Sept. 8, he’s on the finale.
The question is: Will he win?!
Recently married and now living in Bridgeport, Moravsky will be on the NBC program from 9 to 11 p.m. You can watch it with him in New Milford if you like; he’ll be with friends and family at 1st and 10 (sports bar and grill) where there are multiple television screens.
“Stop by and say hi,” he said, by phone this morning. (Obviously he has been sworn to secrecy about what will happen on the show.)
“I am only one of 18 competitors left in the competition and who are moving on to Stage 2 (of 4) at Mt. Midoriyama in Las Vegas, NV,” he said. “Last year, seven people beat stage 2 and moved on to stage 3… find out Monday night if I have what it takes to make it BACK to stage 3 (I made it last year too).”
If you like this show (I find it entertaining and am jealous of these people who are so strong and agile!) you may also want to check out Moravsky’s website at www.theweatherwarrior.org There is an “About” tab that has more details on how he faired in the previous season and a little on this season.
I ran into Moravsky earlier this summer at Ferris Acres Creamery in Newtown. He was friendly and personable. Figures he can eat ice cream and not worry about the calories!
The hype this year has been about how he broke one of the obstacles and was still able to not only finish, but finish with the fastest time in St. Louis (where he competed prior to the Vegas finals).
Here’s a video of that run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6IWgP44ojI
Also, if you missed the recent story on Moravsky by writer Susan Tuz, here’s some excerpts:
Sherman’s Joe Moravsky is vying once again for the title of American Ninja Warrior.
Moravsky, 25, wowed the audience last year making it to Stage 3 in the show’s national finals in Las Vegas. He was one of just seven contestants to achieve that level out of 21 people who went into the finals.
No one has taken the American Ninja Warrior title yet in the show’s seven seasons. Moravsky is determined to be the first.
“They change the courses to keep things interesting,” Moravsky said. “I didn’t have too much trouble with the course this year. There is, of course, a challenge to it but when you train your body for it all year, you’re up to it.”
Moravsky placed in the St. Louis regional final in April with a time of 4:21:16, allowing him to go on to the 2014 Las Vegas national finals in June.
“It was stressful returning for a second year,” Moravsky said. “You have the audience’s expectations on your shoulders. But I trained all year, with not too much down time. My realistic goal was to make it past my rookie standing.”
Moravsky is a 2007 Shepaug Valley High School graduate. Matt Perachi, the athletic director at Shepaug, was Moravsky’s basketball coach during his years at the school.
“Joe was a great competitor for us,” Perachi said. “I knew he was very versatile and very athletic but I had no idea he was going to develop such capabilities.”
Perachi added the Moravsky’s performance in the nationwide competition is “incredible.”
Moravsky is also a 2012 graduate of Western Connecticut State University, where he studied meteorology. And he’s a fitness coach at Vasi’s International Gymnastics in Newtown, where he teaches gymnastics and parkour. Not familiar with “parkour”? Moravsky describes it as ”moving from point A to B as fast and efficiently as possible while adding your own flair to each move you make.
Sounds like that’s a great skill for ninja warriors. Maybe I should take a class…