‘Jeopardy!’ Champ’s Streak Comes Down to $1 Against ‘Injured’ Newcomer

Darian Lusk October 18, 2024, 7:30 pm

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Rishabh Wuppalapati was looking to close out a week with no shortage of drama (from hellish handwriting to woeful wagers) as a four-day Jeopardy! champ. But he was decisively outplayed on Friday, October 18 by an opponent whose first big challenge, as she shared on social media, was just getting into the studio.

The 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania from Vernon Hills, Illinois entered with a three-day total of $52,802. He faced Kelly Gates, a librarian from Medford, Massachusetts, and Kyle Compton-Troesch, a civil engineer from Cincinnati, Ohio.

In the Jeopardy! round, Wuppalapati came out swinging, nabbing the Daily Double immediately for a wide lead of $5,800 by the commercial break. After the break, his opponents crept up and he narrowly led with $6,400, while Gates, who shared that her team of librarians once beat four-day champ Maureen O’Neil at a trivia conference (“never come back”), had $4,000, and Compton-Troesch $3,800.

In Double Jeopardy!, the game became all Gates. The peppy player who seemed to be loving every moment up there extended a $200 lead on the second Daily Double under “Biology,” gaining $4,000 with the correct response: “Heliotropism.” She found the remaining Daily Double with $15,200 to Wuppalapati’s $9,000, Ken Jennings remarked: “You have a pretty big lead.”

Gates wagered the same amount as before but missed the “Stanley Steamers” clue thus breaking even. Like Wuppalapati in the first round, her lead suddenly narrowed as she entered Final Jeopardy with $13,200, the reigning champ with $11,600, and Compton-Troesch with $5800.

The “Literary Geography,” clue was “A N.Y. Times article recognized Sands Point & Kings Point as the real ‘old-money’ & ‘nouveau riche’ settings in this novel.” The correct response was “The Great Gatsby.”

Compton-Troesh was correct and doubled up to $11,400. Hard to ignore was Wuppalapati, likely aware of Gates’ profession aligning with the clue, wearing a sorry expression as he revealed he was also correct, also doubling up to have $23,200.

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Jennings had to remark that Gates “is a librarian” and indeed, she closed the book on the champ by making it a triple-get, adding $10,001 to win with $23,201. The audience gasped as Gates was left beaming, quite the contrast to Wuppalapati whose face evoked the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme music, and she was declared the new champion by $1.

Fans and contestants flooded the Reddit thread for the episode, in excitement over how far Gates will go (with three victories, Wuppalapati is likely to be in the next ToC anyhow) and the climatic close-out.

Zoe Grobman from earlier in the week shared that before Gates’ big win, she actually struggled to get through the literal gates of the studio leading to an injury.

“Hey y’all, it’s my final day of insider knowledge to share. Kelly was the first person I met at tape day, outside the gates of the lot as we were struggling to find the proper entrance (running head first into a locked gate may or may not have been involved), so I was rooting for her,” she wrote.

She added: “It was sad to see Rishabh go (at least partially because I wanted to be able to say I lost to a super-champion), but I was super excited for Kelly. And I highly doubt it’s the last we see of him – if last season’s precedent for 3xers holds he’ll be straight in the TOC, if not he’ll be formidable in CWC.”

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Gates buzzed into the Reddit thread confirming that she did bump her head; not on the studio gates, however, but on the way to the taping.

“I started my day by hitting my head getting into the Lyft, bruising my hand walking into a closed gate, then tucking my skirt into my underwear. Yes I really am that graceful,” the new champ hilariously recalled. “But it all worked out!”

‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Stunned By Player’s Woeful Wager with Backstage Reaction Revealed

Gates added in a second comment: “I’m looking forward to watching tonight because the fugue state is real; I don’t think I could name more than 2 or 3 categories from my game. Getting on the show was a dream come true, and it was an absolute blast. One of the best parts was meeting so many fantastic people and sharing that experience together.”

As one fan simply put it: “Congrats on the win Kelly! Well earned.”

What did you think of the end to Rishabh Wuppalapati’s splashy streak, new champ Kelly Gates, and The Meg photo clue being valued at $2000? Seems fishy… Let us know in the comments!

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