Josiah Singleton is a golf course worker from Virginia, who competed on American Ninja Warrior 11. Because he trains primarily on a farm, he is nicknamed the "Country Boy Ninja". He is also known for leading his group of friends known as the "Lynchburg Loonies", who are notable for their crazy antics, over-the-top enthusiasm, and their never-ending support on the sidelines during his runs.
American Ninja Warrior 11[]
Josiah first competed in the Atlanta region in American Ninja Warrior 11. In the qualifying round, he cleared the first five obstacles, went for the standard 14.5-foot Warped Wall, and finished the course, placing 12th out of 17 finishers.
During the city finals, he failed the eighth obstacle, Up for Grabs, being the first of many to fall there. He barely missed out on advancing to the national finals, as he placed 14th overall when the leaderboard only allowed for 13 finalists. Had he competed on a normal season with the standard top 15 leaderboard, he would definitely have advanced.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Josiah was originally slated to compete in Washington D.C. in American Ninja Warrior 12. However, due to the pandemic altering the season, he was not invited back that year. Likely to make up for this, he was able to compete in American Ninja Warrior 13.
He competed in the third round of qualifying, where his run was cut, but he went out on the fifth obstacle, Pretzel Twist. Despite this, he placed 21st and advanced to the semifinals.
He later competed in the second round of semifinals. His run there was also cut, but he failed on the fourth obstacle, Spinning Bridge and once again did not advance to the national finals.
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
Josiah returned for his third season in the first qualifying episode of American Ninja Warrior 14. His run was digested, but he once again cleared the course, this time in 4th place. Many of the "Lynchburg Loonies" had their runs shown, either in full or digested. Interestingly enough, all of them failed early on, and none of them advanced to the semifinals.
He later competed in the second semifinals episode. He put up his strongest performance yet, getting revenge on Spinning Bridge and becoming one of only 3 competitors who got past the Box Office. He later failed on the Dragonback after his grip gave out. But since he ended up placing 2nd overall, he qualified for the Power Tower, racing against Evan Andrews. He had an early lead on the ropes, but after Andrews failed the transfer to the second, Singleton only widened his lead. Although he was somewhat slow on the Dropping Shelves, it didn't matter, as he pulled an easy victory over Andrews, earning the Safety Pass for his first appearance at the national finals.
At the national finals, Josiah was the first competitor shown to clear Stage One, doing so with 17 seconds left. On Stage Two, his run was digested, but he lost his grip on the third piston of Piston Plunge, and he ended up using his Safety Pass. Singleton ran again on the third night of the national finals, as the first of two competitors who had yet to take on Stage Two. Although he made it farther than in his first run, he once again lost his grip, this time on the transition to the steering wheel, and fell into the water. This was his best season to date.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
Josiah competed in season 16 in the last qualifier. His run was cut, but he went out on the fifth obstacle, Ring the Bells. He placed 8th overall and advanced to the semifinals once again.
He raced Vinnie Castranova in the semifinals. He ended up falling on the Wingnuts, which caused him to lose the race, and so he did not advance to the national finals this time around.
Trivia[]
- Singleton is the second ninja to officially fail the same obstacle on both his first and Safety Pass runs, with Levi Enright being the first.
- Singleton is the third ninja to win a Power Tower race despite not clearing the course. The first was Karson Voiles in the Seattle-Tacoma Finals and the second was Dave Cavanagh in the Baltimore Finals, both of which occurred on American Ninja Warrior 11.
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Failed Piston Plunge (Stage Two) | Failed the obstacle twice on both his first and Safety Pass runs. |