Goshen man to appear on Monday night's 'American Ninja Warrior'

You might see a young man from Goshen on national television if you tune in to Monday night’s episode of "American Ninja Warrior" on WNDU.

“Freshman year of high school, my friends Bobby and Evan showed me the TV show 'American Ninja Warrior,' and we would spend weekends just eating cookies and watching the show together,” Hugh Birky said.

Birky became a huge fan of the show but never imagined he would one day be a participant.

“Then, freshman year of college, we decided to go to a Ninja gym, just to see what it was like,” he said.

That was when he made it his goal to audition for "American Ninja Warrior." But as you can imagine, it wasn't easy.

“The previous fall, I'd actually fractured my wrist, and it was a six-month recovery, and I didn't get it off until February, which gave me three months to get into shape,” Birky said.

For those three months, he trained four to five times a week and visited Ninja training gyms.

When the time came to travel to Cincinnati for the show, his family and a couple close friends were there by his side.

“The second I stepped onto the stage, it was pretty quiet because it was transitioning between runs,” Birky said. “I heard my sister, Maddy, yell out, 'Go, Hugh!'”

Birky says running the course was unlike anything he's ever experienced.

“The second I stepped up on that platform, it was like a flood of adrenaline and endorphins, and just being on the course was like the most adrenaline-high I've ever had in my entire life,” he said.

“I want to be an encouragement to anyone who wants to pursue something,” he continued. “Even if it may seem impossible, like when I had my broken wrist; you can still make it happen if you are passionate enough about it and really want it.”

You can tune in to an all new "American Ninja Warrior" for a chance to see Birky's performance from 8-10 p.m. on WNDU-TV.