I've always had a deep passion for sports and competition, and my athleticism has continued to grow as I gain confidence and strength through focused training.
Athletic Bio:
I was the top varsity player for my high school tennis team for 2 years. Football was my favorite sport, but I weighed around 130 lbs in high school, and it wasn't an option. Once I went to college, I set my sights on walking on to the Louisiana Tech University football team. By my sophomore year I'd bulked up to 195 lbs, and had been working out with several guys on the team in order to be ready for spring tryouts. I cleared several of the initial tests to join the team, but soon after I was severely injured in an off the field burn accident, which gave me 2nd and 3rd degree burns, put me in the burn ICU hospital unit for 2 weeks, and left me in a wheelchair. After getting out, I'd lost around 25 pounds of muscle, and couldn't bend my knees without incredible pain. It was one of the toughest times of my life, and ended my dream of playing college football.
The next 6 months of my life were a steady rehab of regaining strength and flexibility, working through my engineering classes and internships, and continuing to push on to new physical challenges.
American Ninja Warrior:
I’ve competed on ANW for 7 seasons! The show and competition represents a chance for me to apply all of my prior athletic training, passion for football /competitive sports, and now compete on the big stage again! It's a chance for me to overcome prior injuries, setback, and disappointment, and push myself and others to new levels!
I applied for season’s 6 & 7, but wasn’t accepted, so I went through the walk-on process to be a part of the show. I was officially accepted to ANW on season 8 (2016), and beat the regional qualifier and advanced through the regional finals. That year I went on to compete in the Vegas National Finals! Unfortunately an ankle break/sprain ended my run at the beginning of stage 1.
My brothers Joel & Ben Burkhalter have both competed on the show, and advanced to the regional finals of their respective episodes.
2016 also led to Team Ninja Warrior with Daniel Gil and Barclay Stockett! We advanced to the Final 4, after starting with 32 other teams! I sustained a shoulder injury in the finals round, which ended that season…
2017 & 2018 seasons both went well, but I placed 16th in the regional finals, and didn’t make one of the top 15 spots that advanced to the Vegas National Finals
2019 - the year of BREAKTHROUGH!
Advanced through Tacoma regional qualifiers and finals, and placed 10th overall, which qualified me for the Las Vegas National Finals!
I had a huge breakthrough, and beat stage 1 of the National Finals for the 1st time in my ninja career!
Got serious food poisioning and lost 12 lbs of fluids before stage 2 run, but moved into elite status by BEATING STAGE 2 with only ONE SECOND REMAINING!
EXATLON EEUU - Worlds Toughest Reality TV Athletic Completion!
I was blessed to be accepted to season 4 of Exatlon Estados Unidos (United States), one of Telemundo Networks top tv shows (owned by NBC Uni).
I competed on Team Famosos for 7 months. The show format consisted of daily obstacle course racing against members of the opposite team. The environment was challenging, because it took many themes and elements from Survivor and blended them into the competition. Competitors were without cell phones, tv, email, computers, and access to basic elements of life like books, journals, freedom to leave the competition area or “home”, and were unable to have vitamins, protien powder, recovery tools, etc. The toughest element of the competition was having no conneection to the outside world; no phone calls or texts with friends or family. No news of home or of the world (i.e. we didn’t know about the COVID-19 Pandemic for 3 months).
I battled through the daily competitions, and survived 23 weeks of eliminations, 3 serious injuries (achilles tendon, ruptured discs in neck, fractured ankle), and the language barrier (show was solely in Spanish), all to make it to the final week and end up being crowned the Grand Champion!