Mountain Grove man competes again on “American Ninja Warrior”

For the third year in a row, Mountain Grove’s Caleb Dowden was a featured participant on the hit television show, “American Ninja Warrior” when the fifth episode of Season 16 aired Monday, July 15.
During this run, Dowden managed to get past “Pole Vault,” “Double Twister,” and “Dangerous Waters” before falling into the water on the second part of “Duck, Duck, Goose.”
“I kicked the second one with my foot and had to wait for it to stop swinging,” Dowden said, though he noted the broadcast didn’t show his foot hitting it.
“On the first one, I (caught) it and the wings dropped down a little ways. After I stopped and went for the jump, I forgot that I need to bring my arms in a little farther.”
With his fast time and for reaching the fourth obstacle, Dowden was just one place away from a ninja run-off that would have given him a chance to advance out of the qualifying round.
The full segment on television  opened with Dowden taking a drink of milk at the beginning of the course followed by a video package showing him milking a cow then chopping wood on a farm in Mountain Grove.
On the “Duck, Duck, Goose” obstacle, announcers said after he fell in the water, “Despite being country strong, he couldn’t handle ‘Duck, Duck, Goose.’”
He then took another drink of milk.
Dowden says he is still grateful that the show features the life of a farmer on the television show.
“It’s pretty cool just to give America an inside look at farm life,” he said. 

Read the rest of the story in the July 24 issue of the Wright County Journal.