ONEONTA'S NINJA

Anthony Eardley Aims

To Grip, Climb, Swing

Into National Stardom

Editor's Note: "Oneonta's Ninja" Anthony Eardley today – Monday, April 29 – began competition that could win him the title "American Ninja Warrior" on the hit TV shows.  How the competition goes is a closely held secret until the show airs at the end of the month.

By JENNIFER HILL • from Hometown Oneonta & The Freeman’s Journal

ONEONTA – Since infancy, Anthony Eardley hasn’t let the laws of nature get in his way.

Most people avoid being on something high off the ground or being suspended in midair. Eardley runs toward it – and then climbs, grips, swings and flips over it, front-, side- and backwards.

That lack of fear, plus all-around athletic abilities, plus a drive to overcome obstacles – physical and mental – propelled the 28-year-old Oneonta native to win a spot on NBC’s hit TV show, “American Ninja Warrior,” less than two years since entering his first ninja warrior competition on a whim.

The show will begin airing its 11th season on May 28 at 8 p.m.

“I watched ‘American Ninja Warriors’ for several years.  And over time, in the back of mind, I kept hearing, ‘I could do this, that wall doesn’t look that high’,” Eardley said.  “Everyone else says, ‘That looks dangerous, I’m not going to try that.’”