Brown University freshman Justin Bolsen of Canton, Ga., will head to “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions after winning the high school reunion tournament.
Tyler Golden/Sony Pictures Telev | Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
A Georgia man has cemented himself among “Jeopardy!” champions after winning the trivia show’s first High School Reunion Tournament.
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Justin Bolsen, a freshman studying economics and international and public affairs at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, took home the $100,000 grand prize after defeating fellow players Jackson Jones, a junior at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee, and Maya Wright, a senior at Emory in Atlanta, in the final that aired March 9.
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The Canton, Georgia, native also secured his spot in the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions, set to begin this fall, according to a news release. Bolsen will be the youngest player to compete in the event.
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“It’s going to be crazy,” he said in a statement. “I think everybody knows that people who go on mega-streaks are really, really good, so I can only hope to do my best against them. We’ll see what they have in store for me.”
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Bolsen’s win comes more than four years after the now-18-year-old competed in the game show’s Teen Tournament in 2018, according to Brown University.
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He returned to the “Jeopardy!” stage in February to face off with 26 other former teen contestants. The 14-day special event featured nine quarterfinal games, three semifinals and a two-day final, according to a release. The player with the highest two-day total was crowned the winner.
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Thursday’s Final Jeopardy! clue was in the “Landmarks” category and read: “After its completion in the late 19th C., it was called a ‘truly tragic street lamp’ & a ‘high and skinny pyramid of iron ladders”.
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All three players answered correctly: What is the Eiffel Tower?
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Bolsen finished the final round with $35,561 — wagering just enough to surpass Jones, who came in second with $35,198. Wright, who’s from Peachtree City, Georgia, placed third with $24,610.
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“It feels really good,” Bolsen said of his tournament win. “It feels like all the Quiz Bowl stuff I’ve done, all the coaching I had … I go to Brown, which is a really open, collaborative environment, so I had a lot of friends who helped me study too, which was nice.”
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Canton is about 40 miles north of downtown Atlanta.
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