Isabella Wakeham-Folsom is a college student from Cypress, Texas. Before she completed on American Ninja Warrior, she was a competitor on American Ninja Warrior Junior 1 for the 13-14 age group. She made it to the final showdown in episode 10, where she lost to Max Feinberg. She's also married to fellow American Ninja Warrior competitor, Sam Folsom.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Thanks due to the age limit being lowered to 15, she got to competed as a 17 year old rookie in the first qualifying episode alongside her older brother, Isaiah Wakeham. She put up a good run as she made it to the fifth obstacle V Formation before falling. She ended up being the top women competitor that episode as she placed 15th overall in the top 30. It's worth noting that she fall at the same spot on the obstacle as her brother, and there was a second time difference between the two. She later competed in the first semifinal episode. She and Isaiah made a bet that if they both managed to qualify for the national finals, then their mom would have to get a tattoo. She once again put up an impressive run as this time, she made it to Split Decision and chose to do Inverter, falling there. Once again, it was the same place that her brother failed on. Once again like in her qualifying round, she ended up as the top women that episode as she placed 14th overall. She also become the youngest women to reach a back half of a course and also the third women to qualify for Las Vegas in top 15 as a rookie. Additionally she and Isaiah become just the second brother and sister duo to both advanced for the national finals. In Vegas, she managed to get through most of the obstacles. However her pace was pretty slow throughout the course and she ended up failing Dipping Birds as time ran out.
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
Isabella returned for her second season in the fourth qualifying episode, as the last women runner that episode. Just like last year, she had a strong run, making it through the first four obstacles. But just like last year, she ended up falling on the fifth obstacle, Final Frontier. Her time to the obstacle placed her 21st overall in the top 30 and also second among the woman (making it the first time that she wasn’t the top woman in her round). She later competed in the fourth and last semifinals episode. There she once again failed on the fifth obstacle, going out on Kaleidoscope which was the same obstacle that her brother Isaiah failed on. However while Isaiah didn't move on to the national finals, Isabella once again placed 2nd among the women and thus she did advance to the national finals for her second straight season. Her Stage One run in Vegas was digested, but she surprisingly failed the Jumping Spider despite clearing it the previous year.
American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship 3[]
Isabella also competed in the third Women's Championship special, which was taped during American Ninja Warrior 14’s National Finals. In the first round, she got revenge on the Dipping Birds and she later cleared the course with 1 second left, hitting her first buzzer and advancing to the second round in 3rd place. In the second round, she failed on the fifth obstacle, Hornet's Nest and her time placed her 5th that round and she didn't advance to the third and final round.
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
Isabella returned for her third season in the second qualifying episode. Her run was digested and shown side-by-side with her brother Isaiah Wakeham. She failed on Lasso Launch, making it the third time in a row where she failed the fifth obstacle during the qualifiers. It was also the same obstacle that her brother failed on, making it the fourth time that they did so. She still advanced to the semifinals by placing 1st among the women.
She raced Sandy Zimmerman during the semifinals. Isabella was quick early on, but she shocked everyone when she failed the Flying Shelf Grab, giving Sandy the win. As a result, Isabella failed to advance to the national finals for the first time in her career, switching places with her brother Isaiah from last season (as he advanced to the national finals as the top non-winner, despite losing against Grant Kiningham). She was also the only #1 seed to be eliminated in the semifinals and one of two to be eliminated throughout the season (with the other being Kaden Lebsack, ironically both were teens).
American Ninja Warrior: Women’s Championship 4[]
Isabella returned in the fourth ever Women’s Championship, where even though she struggled on The Gambler and Thread the Needle, she hit her second straight Stage One buzzer in the Women’s Championship, moving onto Stage Two in third place racing against the legend, Jesse Labreck. On Stage Two, they stayed side by side on the Striding Steps, but on the Double Salmon Ladder, Isabella shockingly failed it as on the throw to the second ladder, her right side came too far, and the left side didn’t make it to a rung, sending her into the water and she got eliminated from the competition.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
Isabella returned to compete in ANW 16, this time competing alongside her boyfriend and fellow competitor Sam Folsom. Both of them competed in the first qualifier (this is the first season that she and Isaiah Wakeham didn’t compete together in the same season). Isabella was determined to hit a buzzer after coming just short three previous seasons. In qualifying, she made great work of the first four obstacles, and then successfully cleared Jawbreakers, completing the fifth obstacle in qualifying for the first time. She ultimately completed the qualifying course altogether, scaling her first Warped Wall and getting her first regular season buzzer. She also placed 1st among the women overall in that qualifier and was the first female that season to complete a qualifying course.
She later raced against Ixchel Valentino in the last semifinal episode. Isabella had the lead early on, but unfortunately, this race would turn out to be a near repeat of last season, as Isabella ended up failing Hopscotch, and was eliminated after Ixchel cleared the obstacle. This was also the first time that a Wakeham didn’t compete in the national finals since before their debuts, as Isaiah wasn’t chosen to compete.
American Ninja Warrior 17[]
Isabella returned to compete in the fourth qualifying episode, once again alongside her now husband Sam Folsom, though she was still referred to as "Isabella Wakeham" since the marriage happened after the filming of this season. There, she was the only woman that episode got past the fifth obstacle Battering Ram, and she cleared the course for the second year in a row, placing 13th overall.
Isabella returned in the first semifinal episode, now competing under the label "Isabella Folsom". She was able to become the first woman to clear Cannonball Alley, clear the ninth obstacle for the first time (this time being Doorknob Arch), and became the first woman to attempt the Invisible Ladder before completing the course entirely, hitting her first semifinals buzzer and becoming only the fourth woman to ever complete an extended course, placing 9th overall.
At the national finals, Isabella first raced against Donovan Metoyer, and won the race after Donovan fell early on the Swinging Frames, while Isabella made it to the Floating Monkey Bars. She then faced Jessie Graff, and won that race as well, completing the course while Jessie fell on Piston Plunge. Lastly, she went up against Kai Beckstrand in a digested performance, where Isabella fell on the Swinging Frames while Kai completed the course. Nonetheless, Isabella's record was 2-1 and she was one of two women to advance to the top 32.
Isabella ended up racing Kai Beckstrand again in the sudden death round. Despite losing the race to Kai, thus ending her season, Isabella was able to complete the course, ending up as the Last Woman Standing of ANW 17.
American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship 5[]
Isabella then competed during the fifth Women's Championship, which was taped during season 17. In the first round, she cleared the qualifying course with the fourth fastest time, which not only advanced her to the second round, but it also gave her a bye which allowed her to skip the first round of racing, advancing her straight to the semifinals.
In the second round, she raced the winner for the third Women's Championship, Katie Bone. Isabella won the race after Katie failed on the Floating Monkey Bars while Isabella cleared the course, advancing to the final four.
She then raced against the eventual champion Taylor Greene in the final four. Taylor ended up reaching the buzzer before Isabella did, thus she was eliminated from the competition.
Trivia[]
- Her and her brother, Isaiah Wakeham are the first sibling duo to fail V Formation, Inverter, Kaleidoscope, Lasso Launch, and Double Salmon Ladder (in different competitions). Ironically, they have never both cleared the fifth obstacle at the same time. They’ve failed the same obstacle twice in both qualifying and semifinals, while only once in the National Finals.
- Isabella is the first ninja from Ninja Junior to have failed her first three races in Ninja Warrior starting in American Ninja Warrior 15.
- Isabella and Kaden Lebsack are the only two #1 seeds to be eliminated during the races. She is also the only #1 seed to be eliminated twice and not move onto the National Finals.
- Isabella’s became the fourth ever woman to clear the extended course and the eighth ever woman to do so if the Ninja vs. Ninja courses are counted.
- Isabella has hit three buzzers in her ninja career (but if the Women's Championships counts, she has hit five buzzers).
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Failed Dipping Birds (Stage One) | Timed out before falling into the water. | |
| 14 | Failed Jumping Spider (Stage One) | Digest. |