Brian Orosco (ブライアン・オロスコ) is a free runner who has qualified for SASUKE via the American preliminary competition, the American Ninja Challenge/American Ninja Warrior four times. In the five competitions he has entered, he has failed the First Stage only once, the Second Stage twice and the Third Stage in his two most recent tournaments. Nicknamed Mr. Ninja Warrior, he was once one of the best competitors from American Ninja Warrior to compete on SASUKE.
SASUKE[]
Orosco finished in second place behind Meeuwenberg in American Ninja Challenge 2, earning a spot in SASUKE 20. While he cleared the first six obstacles with ease, he also went a bit slow through the course. Thus, when he got to the Flying Chute, he was low on time. While on the Flying Chute, he was able to grab the rope, but when reaching for the net, he let go of the rope too early and fell into the water.
Orosco qualified again through American Ninja Challenge 3, earning a spot in SASUKE 21. This time, he was much faster through the first four obstacles. Although he slipped during the Jumping Spider, he made it to the Half-Pipe Attack in good time. Through the next few obstacles, he took his time, clearing each one on his first attempt. He got his revenge on the Flying Chute by clearing, but at that point, he was very low on time. He rushed through the Rope Ladder and managed to barely clear with only 0.68 seconds left, the closest finish in the Shin-SASUKE era. In the Second Stage, he managed to make it up the Salmon Ladder, but when trying to reach the last level, he only managed to get one side up and his grip gave way, and he failed there.
After not entering the qualifier for SASUKE 22, Orosco competed in SASUKE 23 by placing first in the American Ninja Warrior competition.
During qualifying, Orosco showed great speed, including skipping the fourth step on the Quintuple Steps. Despite a less than graceful landing on the Rope Swing and some difficulty on the Pipe Slider, mostly due to his weight, he hit the buzzer in 44.1 seconds, knocking out Jason Miller.
In the semi-finals, much to the shock of everyone, he made several careless mistakes early (Most likely due to nerves after watching David Gruner's early exit), including a miraculous save on the Rope Swing after almost tapping the water, almost slipping on the Spider Wall, and struggling on the Pipe Slider. However, he managed to make up time by clearing the Tarzan Rope in just three swings, and finished the course in 1:45.9 seconds, placing 13th and moving on to the finals, knocking out Ruselis Perry. In the finals however, he managed to avenge his poor showing in the semis, by blazing through the first stage of the finals in the fastest time of 1:28.4 minutes, and clearing the second stage in the second-fastest time of 24.6 seconds, placing 1st overall and moving on.
In the tournament, competing as the #1 Qualifier from America, he showed great speed easily beating the new obstacles, including clearing the Jumping Spider in just six leaps. He went on to clear the First Stage with 18.65 seconds left on the clock. In the Second Stage, he struggled on the first jump of the Salmon Ladder, the obstacle which took him out in SASUKE 21. It took him over twenty seconds to clear the obstacle, and he reached the Unstable Bridge with less than 30 seconds on the clock. Eventually, he went out on the Unstable Bridge, as he attempted to reach the dismount platform without jumping and fell back into the water, becoming one of three competitors to fail at that obstacle. He failed just as his time was about to expire placing 2nd overall.
Orosco was invited back for SASUKE 25, where he cleared the First Stage easily, despite getting tired near the end of the stage. He then went on to clear the Second Stage for the first time, doing so in exciting fashion, leaving only 1.4 seconds on the clock. For the Third Stage, Orosco had an immediate disadvantage, as his weight of 84 kg was far heavier than that of other competitors. He went out early on the Doorknob Grasper, slipping off the second knob.
Orosco then competed in American Ninja Warrior 2. In qualifying, despite having some rough patches on the Rope Swing and Cross Bridge, he did not disappoint and finished the entire course in 4th place. In the semifinals, he moved with much more caution, and despite clearing the deadly Salmon Ladder, he was extremely fatigued after clearing due to his weight, and failed the transition to the Circle Slider, only being able to touch the ring before falling. However, his result was good enough to clinch 11th place and move on to boot camp. In Boot Camp, he was selected to compete in Japan.
In SASUKE 26, he performed well. In the First Stage, he cleared the first six obstacles with ease, but made the unwise decision of climbing underneath the cargo net on the Giant Swing, rushing and causing his feet to slip, almost tapping the water in the process. However, he recovered and managed to clear with 20.56 seconds left, celebrating with a backflip at the end. However, in the Second Stage, he had a rough run. He spent a long time clearing the Double Salmon Ladder and Unstable Bridge, and was down to just thirty seconds after clearing the first half of the course. But he did not give up, and blazed through the back half, even clearing the Wall Lift in just five seconds, hitting the buzzer with 5.67 seconds to spare. However, he struggled on the Third Stage by using a more strength-sapping technique on the Roulette Cylinder than in the previous tournament, causing the obstacle to sway slightly backwards. He nearly completed the obstacle, but his strength and grip gave way before he could transfer to the Doorknob Grasper placing 4th overall.
Orosco returned for American Ninja Warrior 3, where he cleared the Qualifying Round easily. However, he failed the Unstable Bridge in the semifinal like many that day. However, he went far enough through the course that he advanced to boot camp, placing 10th. During Boot Camp, he struggled, even being put up for elimination on Day 2 and Day 4. Ultimately, he was defeated by Travis Rosen on the Heavenly Ropes on the final day. He attended SASUKE 27 as an alternate but did not run the course placing 11th overall.
American Ninja Warrior[]
Since the re-branding of American Ninja Warrior, Orosco has competed three more times but hasn't been able to clear the qualifying round.
In American Ninja Warrior 4, Orosco competed in the Northwest Qualifiers and was the last runner of the day. He started very strong, easily clearing the first three obstacles in around 15 seconds, but shockingly went out on the Jump Hang when he was moving so fast he didn't get a good grip on the cargo net and backflipped into the water.
In American Ninja Warrior 5, Orosco returned in the Venice Beach qualifiers as the second runner of the night. He started strong, clearing new obstacles such as the Frame Slider and Domino Hill, but failed the Flying Nunchucks when he couldn't grasp them, mostly due to lack of momentum. His time 1:20:53 wasn't fast enough to make it into the top 30 from Jessie Graff's time being slightly faster and placed 31st on the leader board. Had he complete the Flying Nunchucks, he would have make it to the Top 30.
He later failed the Spinning Wheel on American Ninja Warrior 6 in a digested performance.
Orosco has not compete in American Ninja Warrior since.
Jump City: Seattle[]
Orosco competed alongside fellow SASUKE veterans Levi Meeuwenberg, Caine Sinclair, and Paul Darnell as Team Tempest in G4's Jump City: Seattle. Orosco performed poorly in their first match against Team Rogue, scoring only a 7.4 out of 10 in the freestyle round. He served as a de facto captain when Meeuwenberg injured his wrist warming up for their second match against Miami Freerunning. This time, he scored an 8.8 in the freestyle round, tying Meeuwenberg's score in their previous match. Even with an injury to Sinclair's toe, Tempest won all three of their regular season matches, earning an automatic qualification in the finals. In the finals against The Tribe at Qwest Field, Orosco was selected to compete against Michael "Frosti" Zernow in the Sudden Death round, where Orosco score his second 9.0 out of 10, to win the title for Tempest.
X-Warrior China[]
He competed in team X-Warrior in China with 4 other competitors. He was able to win all of his heats in the 2015 tournament. However his team lost by 4-2. His last appearance in any Ninja Warrior version. He competed along with David Campbell, Evan Dollard, Brian Bies, and James McGrath.
Alpha Warrior[]
Orosco, along with Brent Steffensen and Kacy Catanzaro, attempted the Alpha Warrior course, a tour which features obstacles similar to SASUKE. He won first place, and $1000.
Results[]
SASUKE[]
SASUKE | # | Result | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
20 | 1945 | Failed Flying Chute (First Stage) | |
21 | 75 | Failed Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) | Sixth rung. |
23 | 73 | Failed Unstable Bridge (Second Stage) | Fell on 2nd board when reaching for the platform at the end. |
25 | 69 | Failed Doorknob Grasper (Third Stage) | Second doorknob. |
26 | 92 | Failed Roulette Cylinder (Third Stage) | Digest. Full run shown on American Ninja Warrior 2. |