‘Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions’: Complete Guide to All the Contestants (PHOTOS)
The Jeopardy! 2022 Tournament of Champions kicks off October 31, bringing back lots of familiar faces to the beloved game show. This year’s competition, hosted by Ken Jennings, is changing things up a bit with the inclusion of two alternate contestants in addition to the 19 already announced players. Emily Fiasco, who won three games and a total of $87,000, will be one of the alternates, and the second has not yet been announced.
Amy Schneider (40 wins), Matt Amodio (38 wins), and Mattea Roach (23 wins) are the tournament’s seeded players, meaning they are automatically in the semi-finals and don’t have to compete in the quarterfinals. Executive producer Michael Davies explained on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast that these players are “so far ahead of the curve” that they felt it necessary to keep them out of the quarterfinals to level the playing field.
The winners from each of the six quarterfinal games will proceed to the semi-finals to compete against the other winners and seeded players. The nine semi-finalists will compete across three games, and then comes the final round, which will follow the 2019 Greatest of All Time tournament rules, meaning three finalists will play until someone wins three matches. The finals could last as long as a week, depending on how the games unfold.
Below, refresh your memory about the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions contestants ahead of the tournament’s debut.
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Amy Schneider
From: Oakland, California
Job: Engineering Manager
Games Won: 40
Total Winnings: $1,382,800
Schneider had a record-breaking run on the show. Her 40-game victory makes her the second longest-running player in Jeopardy! history behind Jennings (74).
Matt Amodio
From: New Haven, Connecticut
Job: Research Assistant
Games Won: 38
Total Winnings: $1,518,601
Amodio was the third person in the show’s history to win $1 million or more in regular-season play. Up until Schneider broke his record, he was in second place for most games won.
Mattea Roach
From: Toronto, Ontar
Job: LSAT Tutor
Games Won: 23
Total Winnings: $560,983
Roach dreamed of surpassing her favorite Jeopardy! alum, Julia Collins’ 20-game record, for consecutive game wins.
Jaskaran Singh
From: Plano, Texas
Job: Student at University of Texas, Austin
Games Won: College Tournament 2022
Total Winnings: $250,000
Singh made a big wager that sent him into the college semi-finals in February. He wasn’t sure if his answer in the Final Jeopardy round was correct, but he bet all of his $12,200 anyway. It paid off, doubling his night’s winnings in one fell swoop.
Sam Buttrey
From: Monterey, California
Job: Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School
Games Won: Professors Tournament
Total Winnings: $100,000
Buttrey was Jeopardy!‘s first-ever winner of the Professors Tournament.
Ryan Long
From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Job: Rideshare Driver
Games Won: 16
Total Winnings: $299,400
Long had a 16-game winning streak and had a penchant for running categories (correctly answering all of the prompts in one category), raking in nine total.
Jonathan Fisher
From: Coral Gables, Florida
Job: Actor
Games Won: 11
Total Winnings: $246,100
Fisher was the player who put an end to Amodio’s winning streak.
Brian Chang
From: Chicago, Illinois
Job: Attorney
Games Won: 7
Total Winnings: $163,904
Chang brought home the win with a rare, high-stakes tiebreaker — the first of Season 37.
Courtney Shah
From: Portland, Oregon
Job: Community College History Instructor
Games Won: 7
Total Winnings: $118,558
Shah calls herself a “nerd,” and after her seven-game winning streak ended, she changed her Twitter bio to “The Jeopardy! champion for lady nerds everywhere.”
Eric Ahasic
From: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Job: Meteorologist
Games Won: 6
Total Winnings: $160,601
Ahasic is the player who ended Long’s winning streak.
Zach Newkirk
From: Alexandria, Virginia
Job: Lawyer
Games Won: 6
Total Winnings: $124,871
Newkirk was one of the last players to compete during Alex Trebek‘s last full season, Season 36.
Megan Wachspress
From: Berkeley, California
Job: Climate Attorney
Games Won: 6
Total Winnings: $60,603
Wachspress had a memorably lucky streak on the show, winning through lucky wagers and technicalities several times.
Andrew He
From: San Francisco, California
Job: Software Engineer
Games Won: 5
Total Winnings: $157,365
He took home an impressive $52,001 in his first game. He continued to make big wagers through his streak.
Tyler Rhode
From: New York, New York
Job: Healthcare Data Specialist
Games Won: 5
Total Winnings: $105,901
Rhode is a lifelong Jeopardy! fan who can’t believe he’s one of the streak winners. “My grandparents are Jeopardy! diehards,” Rhode said. “The fact that I’m going to be able to share this with them is what I’m thinking about right now.”
Jackie Kelly
From: Cary, North Carolina
Job: Pension Calculation Developer
Games Won: 4
Total Winnings: $115,100
Kelly was noted for her calm demeanor during high-stakes moments during her streak, which came to an end when she and one other player couldn’t place where the Stonewall Riots occurred.
John Focht
From: El Paso, Texas
Job: Software Team Lead
Games Won: 4
Total Winnings: $103,800
When he’s not crushing it on Jeopardy!, Focht works for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Margaret Shelton
From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Job: Homemaker
Games Won: 4
Total Winnings: $79,700
Shelton fulfilled a lifelong dream coming onto the show, and she took a big risk in what ended up being the last Final Jeopardy of her streak, betting all of her winnings. Maureen O’Neil (below) ended up winning th
Christine Whelchel
From: Spring Hill, Tennessee
Job: Piano Teacher & Church Organist
Games Won: 4
Total Winnings: $73,602
Whelchel had a memorable moment when she removed her wig after her final win. A cancer survivor, she wanted to normalize what cancer recovery looked like.
Maureen O'Neil
From: Rye Beach, New Hampshire
Job: Executive Assistant
Games Won: 4
Total Winnings: $58,200
O’Neil is the player who ended Shelton’s four-game streak, going on to win four games herself.
