Featured J!Buzz

From super-champion upsets to come-from-behind victories, the 2024 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions has already been one for the books! The quarterfinals wrapped on Wednesday with six-game champion Troy Meyer securing the ninth and final spot in the semifinals.

While Champions Wildcard Season 39 winner Deb Bilodeau and three-game winner Sean McShane put up a valiant fight, Troy proved to be unstoppable. After picking up two clutch Daily Doubles and coming up with the correct Final Jeopardy! response, Troy won the game in runaway with a score of $38,400. Deb finished in second with $8,400 and Sean placed third with $5,999.

Nine-game champion Ben Chan also punched his ticket to the semifinals with a runaway. On Tuesday, Ben defeated 2023 High School Reunion Tournament champion Justin Bolsen and three-game winner Emmett Stanton with a first-place score of $29,800.

Ben held the lead for the entirety of the game, picking up the first Daily Double early on and then another one in Double Jeopardy! Justin and Emmett teetered back and forth for second place but Emmett hit a snag with a Daily Double during Double Jeopardy! and ultimately was unable to participate in Final Jeopardy!

Though Ben provided the correct Final Jeopardy! response initially, he crossed it out and ended up missing the final clue along with Justin. Nevertheless, the nine-game champ took first, while Justin finished in second with a score of $9,958.

With a climactic finish in Monday’s quarterfinal, Season One Celebrity Jeopardy! champion Ike Barinholtz claimed victory over 13-game super-champ Ray Lalonde and three-game champion Melissa Klapper.

All three competitors performed strongly throughout the game, but after placing a hefty $8,000 wager on a Daily Double late in Double Jeopardy!, Melissa pulled ahead as the front-runner.

Going into Final Jeopardy!, Melissa held the lead with $21,400, Ike trailed in second with $14,800 and not far behind him Ray sat in third with $13,800. But after making a gutsy wager of $13,801 and coming up with the correct Final Jeopardy! response, Ike won the game with a total of $28,601. Ray took second place with $21,800 and Melissa placed third with $13,199. 

Three-game winner Brian Henegar became the sixth champion to claim his spot in the semifinals on March 1, when he took down Champions Wildcard Season 37/38 winner Josh Saak and eight-game champ Stephen Webb.

Brian and Josh were neck-and-neck for most of the game, shifting between first and second while Stephen trailed in third. Final Jeopardy! came down to a face-off between Brian and Josh as Stephen did not qualify to compete in the round. And though both players were unable to come up with the correct response, Brian took the win with a final score of $8,799. Josh placed second with $3,995. 

Luigi de Guzman gained entry into the semifinals after winning a fierce battle against Champions Wildcard Season 39 winner Juveria Zaheer and three-game champion Kevin Belle on February 29. 

While Juveria established a significant lead early on in the game, Luigi tightened the gap during Double Jeopardy! when he doubled his score with a $10,000 Daily Double wager. Juveria held a narrow lead of $1,400 over Luigi at the start of Final Jeopardy! and Kevin was in third with $5,800. However, after Luigi came up with the correct Final Jeopardy! response, he took the win with a score of $43,999, the highest of all the quarterfinals. Kevin came in second with $5,800 and Juveria finished in third with $2,400.

Three-game champion Yogesh Raut earned his spot in the semifinals on February 28, when he defeated Champions Wildcard Season 37/38 winner Nick Cascone and three-game champion Jake DeArruda.

Jake dominated the Jeopardy! round, but the game intensified during Double Jeopardy! with Yogesh flexing his quick buzzer skills and Nick finding back-to-back Daily Doubles. By the end of the round, Yogesh held a significant lead of $12,400 over Jake and Nick sat in third with $2,400. Though Final Jeopardy! ended with a triple stumper, Yogesh proved victorious and won the fourth quarterfinal with a score of $24,799. Jake took second with $1,999 and Nick finished third with $1.

Four-game champ David Sibley advanced to the semifinals on February 27, when he won his quarterfinal matchup against eight-game champion Hannah Wilson and Champions Wildcard S37/38 winner Yungsheng Wang.

David got out to a strong start entering Double Jeopardy! as the front-runner but competition was stiff during the round. Hannah was hot on the buzzer and found back-to-back Daily Doubles, which could have given her a massive lead. However, she was unable to come up with the correct response to the second Daily Double and missed out on $10,000. 

Going into Final Jeopardy!, David led with $18,800 while Hannah was in second with 13,200 and Yungsheng had $3,200. All three players responded correctly to the final clue but thanks to David’s $7,601 wager he won the game with a score of $26,401, a mere $6 lead over Hannah’s second place of score of $26,395. Yungsheng placed third with $6,400.

Three-game champion Jared Watson pulled off one of the most surprising upsets of the tournament thus far on February 26 when he took down 21-game super-champion Cris Pannullo and five-game champion Ben Goldstein.

While each player brought their A-game, Daily Doubles were key to winning the second quarterfinal. Jared found all three Daily Double clues and did not hold back with his wagers.

In the end, Jared won the game in a runaway with a score of $32,200. Ben finished in second with $100 and Cris placed third with $0.

Champions Wildcard S37/38 winner Emily Sands was the first champion to punch their ticket to the semifinals. She defeated six-game champion Suresh Krishnan and four-game champ Matthew Marcus in the first quarterfinal on February 23. 

While Emily only picked up one Daily Double during the game and did not provide the correct Final Jeopardy! response, her dominance on the buzzer and wide breadth of knowledge helped her secure a runaway with a score of $21, 800. Matthew placed second with a score of $14,799 and Suresh took third after being ineligible to compete in Final Jeopardy!. 

Each quarterfinalist who did not advance to the semifinals was awarded $5,000, while the nine semifinalists moved one step closer to winning the $250,000 grand prize and coveted spot in the upcoming Jeopardy! Masters competition.