After fifth ‘Jeopardy!’ win, MN meteorologist Eric Ahasic now eligible for the Tournament of Champions

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press
·2 min read
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Minneapolis meteorologist Eric Ahasic wrapped his first week on “Jeopardy!” Friday with yet another blowout win of $28,000, bringing his five-day total to $133,801.

Host Mayim Bialik opened the show by telling the audience that the 32-year-old Ahasic would become a Tournament of Champions qualifier if he won the episode. And since he did, it means he could end up facing Ryan Long — who won nearly $300,000 across 16 games before Ahasic beat him Monday — during the annual tournament, which will take place in November.

Ahasic was first to buzz in as the game began, putting him in a lead his competitors — a voice/speech teacher and lawyer, both from California — were never able to beat.

His winning streak of finding Daily Doubles ended during the first round, but he did share a story about proposing to his girlfriend. Last fall, they were vacationing in France and he pondered where, exactly, he would pop the question.

“I decided why not do it everywhere? So each place we went, I found a nice spot and just kind of dropped to one knee and proposed. And I’ve added Central Park (in) New York to the list. I hope to do it here at the beach at sunset soon,” said Ahasic, a meteorologist at the Chanhassen office of the National Weather Service.

At the top of the second round, Ahasic claimed $7,600 to his fellow players’ $5,400 and $2,400. He found both Daily Doubles and won $3,000 on the first, correctly identifying the names of the British secret service and secret intelligence service agencies as MI5 and MI6. In a more conservative wager, he collected another $2,200 with a query about the Lakota leader Sitting Bull.

At Final Jeopardy!, Ahasic towered over the competition with $28,400 in winnings compared to $13,800 and $3,600.

The final answer, in the category the Western Hemisphere: “Brazil stretches 2,700 miles from the Atlantic in the East to Serra Do Divisor National Park on the border with this country in the West.” Only the lawyer correctly guessed Peru, but he couldn’t come close to overtaking Ahasic’s $28,000 end total.

Noting that Ahasic gave 31 correct answers during the episode, Bialik said: “What a game. What a week. Can he do it again?” We’ll find out when his sixth episode airs at 4:30 p.m. Monday on KARE-TV.

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