Ryan Stratis

Ryan Stratis (ライアン ストラティス)is a former member of the Georgia Army National Guard in the United States who is notable for having competed in every season of American Ninja Warrior. Stratis had been trying to get on SASUKE since the original American Ninja Challenge in 2007 but his video tape submissions have fallen short many times.

SASUKE
In American Ninja Warrior, Stratis looked very strong early on, as he blazed through the first four obstacles in under 30 seconds. However, he had trouble with momentum on the Pipe Slider, and missed two tries at the Warped Wall. As a result, despite eventually clearing, he didn't have a Top 30 time and did not move on.

Stratis came back for American Ninja Warrior 2, placing 25th in the preliminary round despite missing a try at the Warped Wall. However, in the Semi Finals, his run was digested, but it was shown that he buckled on the trampoline leading up to the Salmon Ladder and did not qualify for boot camp, as like in the first competition, his time was not fast enough, placing 23rd overall.

Ryan competed in American Ninja Warrior 3 and managed to exact revenge on the Salmon Ladder and was the only one of the 30 competitors to clear semi-finals round, finally qualifying for SASUKE 27. In the First Stage, he almost fell on the Half Pipe Attack, briefly holding onto the rope with one hand. However, he managed to clear and finished the First Stage with 13.97 seconds left. In the Second Stage, he put on a strong performance and finished with the fastest time of the Americans, 18.41 seconds. In the Third Stage, he made it to the Ultimate Cliffhanger but failed the transition from the third to fourth ledge. Interestingly, Stratis was mistakenly aged as 37 in the Japanese broadcast, when he was actually 28.

American Ninja Warrior 4
Fans expected Stratis to repeat his previous performance in American Ninja Warrior 4, but he shocked many when he tripped on the Bungee Bridge and his foot touched the mat below.

American Ninja Warrior 5
In American Ninja Warrior 5, Stratis was on a mission for redemption, and got it on the third obstacle the Balance Bridge. He almost failed the Slider Jump, but once he cleared it, he defeated the Monkey Peg and did an army yell before scaling the Warped Wall on his first try. In his first visit to the Miami Finals, he defeated all 6 obstacles once again, and the Salmon Ladder, while also conquering the Ledge Jump and Rolling Steel, before flipping onto the mats before the Spider Climb. Then he made it to the top of the tower, hit the buzzer, and earned a trip to National Finals. In Las Vegas, he shockingly failed the Jumping Spider in the Stage One.

American Ninja Warrior 6
In American Ninja Warrior 6, he competed again in the Miami qualifying, and cleared with the twentieth fastest time. In the Miami Finals, he cleared the finals course and placed 3rd place. In Stage One at Vegas, he cleared the first 2 obstacles, but almost went out on the new obstacle, the Silk Slider. He cleared the Jumping Spider, where he failed last time, then nearly failed the Half-Pipe Attack, taking 3 attempts to clear. After that, he cleared the rest of the First Stage with 08.66 seconds left. On the Second Stage, Ryan destroyed the first four obstacles. However, on the Metal Spin, Ryan lost his grip on the chain. Although he managed to hold on to it, he held it too low and his foot touched the water.

American Ninja Warrior 7
In American Ninja Warrior 7, Stratis competed in the San Pedro qualifiers for the special military event. On the course, Ryan took a slow, cautious approach to the qualifying course nearly failing on the Log Runner. He recovered though, and completed the rest of the course in ninth place. On the finals course, Stratis fought and muscled his way through the first nine obstacles with finesse. On the Invisible Ladder, however, Ryan started out hard but instantly lost his grip strength halfway through the obstacle. As a result, Ryan failed but he still earned a spot to the Las Vegas National Finals, as he placed 3rd overall.

In the Vegas Finals, Ryan cleared the first stage with ease. On Stage Two, Ryan flew through Rope Jungle. But on the Double Salmon Ladder, he rushed through the obstacle and misjudged the height of the second-to-last rung which caused him to fail.

American Ninja Warrior 8


Prior to American Ninja Warrior 8, Stratis underwent shoulder surgery after years of shoulder pain. Even though he wasn't 100%, he still managed to compete in the Philadelphia qualifying region. On the course, he dominated the first three obstacles. However, on the fourth obstacle, he slightly injured his right shoulder (which he had surgery on). Fighting through the pain, Stratis annihilated the grueling Rolling Thunder and scaled up the new and improved Warped Wall and finished the qualifying course in ninth place. In the city finals, his run was digested but it was shown that he failed the Stair Hopper but placed 9th and moved on to Vegas. In Vegas, he was the first runner and Ryan Stratis powered through most of Stage 1, but however, he fell on the Flying Squirrel after showing obvious signs of pain in his shoulder.

American Ninja Warrior 9


In American Ninja Warrior 9 Stratis competed at Daytona Beach still struggling with shoulder pain. In qualifying his run was digested but cleared the course at 9th place with a time of 2:55.19. In the city finals, his run was again digested, but it was shown that he failed the Giant Cubes by failing the jump to the second cube as he was one of the many, but placed 13th and moved on to the national finals. In Stage 1, he once again powered through and even achieved vengeance on the Flying Squirrel and cleared with 9.67 seconds remaining. On Stage Two, he struggled with the Giant Ring Swing and was one of two competitors to fail there.

American Ninja Warrior 10


In American Ninja Warrior 10, Stratis competed in Miami for his tenth consecutive season. Although he had a slight struggle on the new Slippery Summit, Stratis still managed to clear the qualifier course with the sixth fastest time and also became the fourth competitor (as well as the only one in Miami) to complete the Mega Wall.

In the city finals he had a strong run as he managed to get revenge on the Stair Hopper, the obstacle that he failed on during the Philadelphia city finals in American Ninja Warrior 8. He later continued to clear the city finals course for the first time since Season 6, placing 3rd overall.

In Stage One, Stratis performed strongly, however, he failed on Jeep Run after losing balance on the moving tire portion. Despite this, since he made it further than Brett Sims- he gets to keep his beard while Sims had his shaven off.

American Ninja Warrior 11
In American Ninja Warrior 11, Stratis confirmed competing in Atlanta for his 11th season and that he and Brett Sims will continue the beard bet with whoever fails to complete the coarse will lose the bet. While his qualifying run was digested (His full run was posted on YouTube, though.), Stratis performed strongly and cleared with the fourteenth fastest time and also scaled up the Mega Wall for the second year in a row. Since he scaled it on his first attempt, he won the $10,000 grand prize. He was also the first competitor to scale the Mega Wall twice. Brett Sims also cleared the course, continuing the beard bet to the City Finals.

In the City Finals, Stratis put up another strong run, despite having a slight stumble on Block Run where he cut his hand, but was able to pull through and finished the course in 5th place. Brett Sims also manage to clear the course, thus continuing the beard bet for Vegas.

In Vegas, Stratis got revenge on Jeep Run, and manage to clear Stage 1 and also won the beard bet against Brett Sims for the second year in a row. On Stage Two, Stratis has a hard landing on Giant Walk the Plank, but pulled through and cleared Stage Two not only for the first time since Season 3, but also the first time on U.S. soil. Ryan was able to beat Grip and Tip, but unfortunately messed up on Iron Summit where he put too much force on one peg by putting two hands on it and this caused him to fall with it into the water, ending his stage 3 run and chances of beating his personal best record. Although in the All Star Special of Season 11, he finally bested the Ultimate Cliffhanger.

Unfortunately, on April 19th, 2020, Stratis announced on Instagram that he will not be competing on American Ninja Warrior 12, ending his streak of consecutive appearances on American Ninja Warrior, which started 11 years ago. The post can be found here.

He did apply for American Ninja Warrior 13, looking for a comeback after taking off the previous season, but unfortunately did not get the call along with some other veterans.