Medina's Matt Amodio finishes third on 'Jeopardy! Masters' Finals

The sole Ohioan finished third Wednesday night in the competition to determine who is the supreme "Jeopardy!" master.

Medina's Matt Amodio and Dayton's Amy Schneider were among former champs who returned to "Jeopardy!" to compete with four other former champions to compete for bragging rights, $500,000 and the Trebek Trophy.

The competition started two weeks ago on ABC and features 10 hour-long episodes where the winningest recent competitors match wits against one another and culminated with Wednesday night's final round of clues.

Schneider was eliminated from the competition last week after finishing last in her elimination round.

Amodio finished first in the elimination round and qualified third for the semifinal round.

The Medina native earned a spot in the finals on Tuesday night.

He finished third in the finals on Wednesday and earned $150,000.

James Holzhauer, who is known for going all in on Double Jeopardy clues, finished first and Mattea Roach, a Canadian who revealed on Tuesday's show that her father died during the tapings, came in second.

Holzhauer won $500,000 and Roach earned $250,000 for her second place finish.

By making it to the final round, Amodio is guaranteed a spot in next year's Masters competition.

What happened on previous episodes of 'Jeopardy! Masters'

The opening round last Monday pitted Amodio against Schneider and Andrew He, a software developer from California.

It was a rough episode for Amodio who finished last, and Schneider, who saw He dominate the board and finish first.

Tuesday night's round was a bit more friendly for Amodio, who found himself matching wits against Monday night winners James Holzhauer and He.

At one point, Amodio gave a shoutout to his alma mater Medina High School and credited his Latin teachers for helping him craft an answer.

Tuesday night's round ended with Amodio and Holzhauer each with 28,400 points heading into Final Jeopardy.

Holzhauer did his characteristic all-in bet in Final Jeopardy but didn't have the correct answer and ended up losing it all.

Amodio didn't know the answer either but was conservative with his wager and won the round and earned three match points.

He finished second.

In Tuesday night's other round, Schneider finished second in as many nights.

On Wednesday, Amodio and Schneider both finished last in their respective rounds.

There was no show aired on Thursday.

Schneider finished first in her round on Friday night, while Amodio finished last in his round.

Amodio risked it all after landing on a Double Jeopardy and didn't have the right answer. By the time Final Jeopardy rolled around, Amodio was still in negative territory and was not permitted by rule to participate in the final question.

Amodio finished first in a round Monday that saw him competing against Schneider who finished second.

Amodio did not get the Final Jeopardy question right but had already banked enough points by getting a Daily Double question right earlier in the competition.

Schneider admitted during the show that she had thrown caution to the wind the night before the taping and decided to go and relax by singing karaoke.

For those wondering, Schneider said she picked a song from the "Little Mermaid."

Amodio finished last in a round Tuesday that saw him competing against Schneider who finished second and earned a point toward making the next round.

Amodio gave a shout out to his hometown during the show − noting his recent induction into the Medina High School Hall of Fame.

"I'm extremely proud of my public school district," he said. "They made me the person I am today."

Amodio finished last on the one round he appeared on in Monday's semifinals round.

The other returning champions in the tournament include Mattea Roach and Sam Buttrey.

The show is being hosted by former "Jeopardy!" champ Ken Jennings.

What is Matt Amodio?

Hometown hero Amodio drove "Jeopardy!" aficionados and grammarians nuts by answering "What is ..." to every clue.

Over the span of two seasons starting in 2021, the Medina and Ohio State University grad won 38 straight games and earned $1,518,601 along the way.

His epic run that included a host of different hosts − from Robin Roberts of ABC's "Good Morning America" to "Reading Rainbow" veteran LeVar Burton to Mayim Bialik − cemented Amodio's spot on the list of winningest champs in the show's storied history.

Matt Amodio: Medina 'Jeopardy!' champ shares secret behind his "What is" answer strategy on the TV show

The notoriety from the game also made him a Northeast Ohio hero and even led to him throwing out the first pitch at a RubberDucks game.

Who is Amy Schneider?

It's been quite the run for Ohioans on "Jeopardy!" as of late.

Schneider, who grew up in Dayton, won 40 consecutive games from November 2021 to January 2022, winning some $1.6 million.

She also won the show's 2022 Tournament of Champions.

More: Final 'Jeopardy!' answer is 'Who is Amy Schneider'? The category? Champions, of course.

As the second-longest winning streak winner, Schneider is the most successful woman and transgender person to ever compete on the show.

She now lives in California.

How will 'Jeopardy! Masters' work?

There will be 10 hourlong episodes each containing two half-hour games.

The six returning champions will compete in a typical game featuring three rounds: Jeopardy!, Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy!

After seven episodes (14 games), the top four players will advance to the semifinals where one will be eliminated.

The championship will culminate with the top three players.

Leading into the final, players will be awarded match points based on how they finished in the opening rounds games. The winner of each game will get three points with the second place finisher landing one point. There are no points for finishing third.

Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Medina's Matt Amodio makes 'Jeopardy! Masters' Finals, Amy Schneider out