Sometimes it just takes a single phone call to make your dreams come true. That's what happened to one Cedar Falls teen this month.

Get our free mobile app

The 14th season of 'America Ninja Warrior' looks like it might just be full to the brim with talent from eastern Iowa.

It seems like the producers for the hit show 'America Ninja Warrior' just love this area. Eight locals tried out for the program and got the call (so far) that they would be going on the show. All of these future competitors train or are coaches at the Ninja U gym in Cedar Falls.


Scott Behrends                                                                                                      Behrends is the owner of Ninja U. He previously competed in season 11 of 'America Ninja Warrior.'

Chris Behrends                                                                                                          Scott's nephew and a Ninja U coach. He competed on the 13th season of 'America Ninja Warrior.'

Ella Sankey                                                                                                               This will be Sankey's rookie season!  She is a freshman at UNI and has been training with the gym since the very beginning.

Jackson Twait                                                                                                           
Twait has appeared on the show several times over the past few years. He appeared on seasons 11, 12, and 13 of the show. Last season he even hit the Mega Wall!

Jon Klippenstein                                                                                             Klippenstein is another coach from the Ninja U gym. He also is a sophomore at UNI.

Drew Nester                                                                                                         Nester is a former coach at Ninja U and is a first-time competitor on the show.

Levi Enright                                                                                                               You probably have heard of this Waverly native before. Enright is also a coach at Ninja U and has competed on the 13th season of the show. However, you might remember him as the young man who tried to break a world record for doing the most pull-ups in 24 hours.

Ben Behrends

Behrends is the youngest competitor in this Cedar Falls bunch. At 15 years old the teenager has proven himself to be a strong athlete. Not only is he the son of the Ninja U gym owner, but he is also a coach. In addition, Behrends already competed on a different form of the show when he appeared on the first season of 'America Ninja Warrior Junior.'

He got yet another call from producers to be a part of the series, but this time he'd be on the original show. Ben will be joining his dad and the rest of his Ninja U family this spring. When he got the call earlier this month, the teen was left almost speechless.

In a sweet moment captured on video, Ben only has a very small freakout when the producers give him the good news. This teen was left almost speechless and just kept thanking the man on the other end of the line.

You can watch Ben's reaction in the video down below!

Good luck Ben, and all of the other athletes representing the Cedar Valley this season!

The athletes will be heading to San Antonio this spring. In March, during a span of five days, the Ninja hopefuls will be competing at the regional qualifiers in San Antonio, according to News 4 San Antonio. Those who qualify during the trials on March 20th to the 24th will head out to Los Angeles for the next round.

See Inside Roseanne Barr's Eldon Mansion

Roseanne Barr was set to make a home in Iowa. She and her then-husband Tom Arnold were in the midst of building a mansion in Eldon. It was put on hold when the couple eventually split up. This left a beautiful, unfinished, and kind of spooky mansion behind.

Hilarious Iowa DOT Signs

Anyone else share a sense of humor with a state's Department of Transportation? Just me? Well, every Monday the Iowa Department of Transportation puts up a sometimes hilarious, sometimes straightforward message on their road signs across the state. This is called "message Monday" and Iowa DOT tries to entertain and educate drivers through these signs. Here are just a few of our favorites.

More From 98.1 KHAK