Isaiah Wakeham is a designer and artist who first competed on American Ninja Warrior 12.
American Ninja Warrior 12[]
Isaiah first competed in American Ninja Warrior 12 at the age of 19. He was part of Seth Rogers' team along with Ashley Wells. His run was cut from the broadcast, but it was revealed he failed the third obstacle, Ring Chaser, ending his rookie season.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Isaiah returned to compete in the first qualifying episode of American Ninja Warrior 13, this time with his sister, Isabella Wakeham. Isaiah's run was digested, but he did better this time, making it to the fifth obstacle, V Formation, falling on the descent. He placed 13th overall and moved on to the semifinals. In addition, Isabella failed on that same obstacle and their times to that point were a one second difference.
He later competed in the first semifinal episode. There, he put up a good run as he made it to the ninth obstacle at Split Decision. He chose the Inverter and failed it along with Isabella but they both moved on to the national finals.
Isaiah's Stage One run was digested, but he was running low on time when he got to the Dipping Birds, so he released The High Road and timed the trampoline jump perfectly. He then finished Stage One with 14.50 seconds remaining. His run on Stage Two was also digested, but he derailed on the Double Salmon Ladder, ending his season.
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
Isaiah returned for his third season in the fourth round of qualifying. Once again, his run was digested, but he was one of only eight competitors who got past the fifth obstacle, Final Frontier. He also went for the Mega Wall where he managed to get one hand on it, but he couldn't hang on. Nevertheless, he still cleared his first qualifier buzzer in 6th place. It's also worth noting that his run here was on his 21st birthday.
He later competed in the fourth semifinals episode. His run there was also digested, but he failed on the fifth obstacle, going out on Kaleidoscope after he started swinging from side to side. It was also the same obstacle that his sister Isabella failed on, making the third time that they did. While Isabella still advanced by placing 2nd among the women, Isaiah's time to the obstacle wasn't fast enough to advance back to the national finals, ending his season.
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
Isaiah returned for his fourth season in the third qualifying episode. His run was digested (being shown side-to-side with his sister Isabella), but he once again failed the fifth obstacle, failing the Lasso Launch. Also, for the fourth time, he fell on the same obstacle Isabella did. Isaiah still advanced to the semifinals for the third consecutive year by placing 5th overall.
Wakeham raced Grant Kiningham in the semifinals. Both ninjas were very close for most of the race but the separation showed by the time both reached Slingshot. Kiningham reached the buzzer first while Wakeham reached the buzzer about 11 seconds after, giving Kiningham the win. However, Wakeham was the fastest non-winner and the only non-winner to complete the course, thus allowing him to advance to Vegas after missing out the previous year, switching places with his sister Isabella from last season (as she shockingly lost her race against Sandy Zimmerman).
His run on Stage One was digested, but he made to the final obstacle, Thread the Needle, before missing the hook. Unfortunately, he just barely missed out on advancing to Stage Two, placing 25th overall.
Unlike his sister, Isaiah wasn’t chosen to compete in American Ninja Warrior 16, making the first time that he and Isabella didn’t compete in the same season, and it is currently unknown if he is competing in American Ninja Warrior 17.
Trivia[]
- Isaiah Wakeham is the tenth contestant on ANW to run a course on his birthday, after Cheetah Platt (ANW2’s qualifiers), Natalie Strasser (ANW4’s Southwest qualifiers), Daniel Gil (ANW8 Oklahoma City qualifiers), Halei Jo Fuller (ANW10’s Miami qualifiers), Brett Sims (ANW10’s Miami finals), Jackson Meyer (ANW11’s Tacoma finals), Jose Gomez (ANW13’s Semifinals 3), John Loobey (ANW14’s Qualifier 1), and David Tomassoni (ANW14’s Qualifier 4). He was then followed by Glenn Davis (ANW15’s Qualifier 4).
- He and his sister, Isabella 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.
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Failed Double Salmon Ladder (Stage Two) | ||
| 15 | Failed Thread the Needle (Stage One) |