Brookneal, VA – Eagerly waiting to see a dream come true, southwest Virginia will be watching one of its own compete Wednesday on "American Ninja Warrior."
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Josiah Singleton of Brookneal, a recent Liberty University graduate has plans to become a youth pastor, but first, he's taking his shot at becoming a ninja.
Singleton said he trained for the past year and a half to be on the show. He sent an audition tape last year, but it turns out his second try was the charm.
“It was definitely a dream come true,” Singleton said.
Growing up on Hat Creek Golf course, and as a former member of the LU Golf team, he dubbed himself as the “Golfing Ninja” in his first audition tape. The second time around, he embraced rural living that Southwest Virginia provided growing up, and to train on by naming himself the “Country Ninja.” The persona stuck. "American Ninja Warrior" producers called his father to help surprise him shortly after receiving his video.
Family and friends traveled with him to Atlanta so he could take on the course he had long been dreaming about.
“It was fun! It was exciting,” Singleton said. “Some stuff that you don't see on the TV show that you get to see behind the scenes, and that was fun because I've been watching the show since it basically got started."
While there he met ninjas he has been looking up to for years.
"A couple of the guys that I had watched growing up, that were like almost heroes. They were there. It was crazy, I was like I get to compete to these guys. It was cool,” Singleton said.
Singleton said Southwest Virginia's mountains helped him get ready to take on the challenge, and he's proud to represent our area.
Singleton wasn't allowed to talk about how he did on the show.
His episode airs Wednesday on WSLS 10 at 8 p.m.