Sam Folsom is a college student from Woodriver, Illinois, best known for having a ninja course in his barn that he calls the "Danger Zone".
He is also the husband of fellow competitor, Isabella Wakeham. They had competed together as a couple in the second ANW Couples' Championship, winning the tournament. He married Isabella on October 23, 2024.[1] He's also the older brother of Phil Folsom.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Sam was originally supposed to compete in St. Louis in American Ninja Warrior 12, along with several teen competitors at the time.[2] But due to Covid-19, he had to wait another year until he could make his ANW debut.
Sam first competed in the fifth and last qualifying episode, alongside his mentor Jamie Rahn. His run was digested, but he cleared the course in his rookie debut in 12th place, despite missing the Mega Wall.
Sam later competed in the fourth and last semifinals episode. His run there was also digested, but he hit himself on the ear on Drop Zone but he still cleared the obstacle. His run later ended at the eighth obstacle, going out on Crazy Clocks after his knee slightly pushed the middle ledge after he jumped to it, ending his rookie season.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
Sam returned three seasons later in American Ninja Warrior 16. His qualifying run was digested, but he failed the fourth obstacle, Duck Duck Goose. Ironically, this was the obstacle he created for the Obstacle Design Challenge and completed in the second Couples Championship. Luckily, his time was fast enough for him to move on to the semifinals as he placed 11th, barely missing out on having to be in the run-offs.
Sam later raced against Jody Avila in the last semifinal episode. It was a close race that Jody had the lead for most of it, but then Sam got ahead on Spin Hopper and cleared the course before Jody. He additionally had the fastest time in that round, which have him a chance to compete in the Safety Pass race against John Mack. The Safety Pass race was really back and forth until John failed on Spin Hopper and Sam cleared the course in 41 seconds, giving him the Safety Pass for his first national finals appearance.
On Stage One, Sam would go surprisingly slow throughout the course, though he would get his first Stage One buzzer with 2.51 seconds left on the clock, having the second slowest time out of the 26 finishers of Stage One and he didn't need to use his Safety Pass. On Stage Two, he raced against his good friend, Kaden Lebsack. Sam won the race after Kaden shockingly failed on Jawbreakers and he cleared the course, advancing him to Stage Three. On Stage Three, Sam was looking strong until he failed on the new Pizza Party, ending his best season to date.
American Ninja Warrior 17[]
Sam returned for his third season in the fourth qualifying episode, alongside his fiancee Isabella. His run was digested, but he got past the fourth obstacle this time around, and he once again cleared the qualifying course, this time doing so with the 3rd fastest time in 47 seconds, which gave him another shot at the Mega Wall, which he once again missed.
He later competed in the first semifinals episode. His run there was once again digested, but after almost failing on the dismount of Doorknob Arch, he joined his fiancee by clearing the semifinals course for the second straight year, placing 6th overall.
At the national finals, he lost his first race against Evan White, before he won his second race against Bray Weinacker after Bray failed on the Floating Monkey Bars. Then he lost his third race against Hans Hertz, but because of his fact clear, Sam was the wildcard for Course 2, thus he still advanced to the top 32.
At the knockout stage, Sam won his rematch against Hans Hertz in the round of 32, before he also won his race against Evan Lavallee in the round of 16 despite falling on the Kickboards since Evan also failed that obstacle and he made it there slower than Sam did, this he advanced to the top 8. There, he raced against Kaden Lebsack in a rematch from their Stage Two race in the previous season. This time around, Kaden won the race after he cleared the course before Sam did, ending his season.
Ninja Warrior Poland 11[]
Sam appeared in Season 11 of Ninja Warrior Poland as one of the US representatives. In the first qualifying stage (a warm-up before Round 1), he raced against Krystian Drzewiecki, whom he defeated and completed the course in 39 seconds. In Round 1, he raced against Przemysลaw Jaลczuk, whom he also defeated, completing the course in 35 seconds. In Round 2, he raced against Mateusz Skrodzki, where he also completed the course in 51 seconds, winning and advancing to the Power Tower. On the Power Tower, he raced against Michaล Klimek, completing the entire course in about 28 seconds, winning the Speed โโPass and automatically advancing to the finals.
Trivia[]
- Sam is the second competitor to get to attempt his own fan-submitted obstacle, after Kevin Carbone. Unlike Carbone however, Sam is the first to fail to complete his own creation on the course.
- Sam is the first competitor to fail two seperate fan-submitted obstacles twice in the same season. He failed both Duck Duck Goose and Pizza Party in ANW 16.
- Sam is one of thirteen to conquer the semifinals course in under a minute in American Ninja Warrior 16.
- On the broadcast of American Ninja Warrior 17, Sam had revealed that he and Isabella were saving the prize money from winning the second ANW Couples' Championship towards their marriage. It should be noted however, that at the time the season was broadcasted on television, they were already married. This is because filming for season 17 took place between 9/23/2024 to 10/5/2024. Sam and Isabella were engaged at the time, but did not marry until nearly three weeks after the competition wrapped up filming. ANW 17 was not broadcasted on TV until June 2025, eight months after they had been in marriage.
- Sam and his wife Isabella made history with their runs in the semifinals of ANW17:
- They are the second married couple to hit the semifinals buzzer together on the same course.
- They are the third couple overall if the Ninja vs. Ninja semifinals course counts.
- Sam and Isabella have hit a total of nine buzzers as a couple.
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Failed Pizza Party (Stage Three) |
Ninja Warrior Poland Results[]
| Season | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | TBA | TBA |