After winning $160,601 in his first ‘Jeopardy!’ run, MN meteorologist Eric Ahasic is back for the Tournament of Champions

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press
·3 min read
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After dominating six games in a row on “Jeopardy!” in June – and winning $160,601 in the process – Minneapolis meteorologist Eric Ahasic is back for the game show’s Tournament of Champions. And he’s facing not just stiff competition, but some of the most successful players in the history of “Jeopardy!”

“I found myself as an underdog,” Ahasic said. “Here I am with six wins next to two ‘Jeopardy!’ millionaires and other players with an incredible number of wins. I had no expectations other than to go out, have fun and enjoy the experience.”

The Tournament of Champions, which airs locally at 4:30 p.m. on KARE 11, begins Monday and features every contestant who won four or more games since the previous tournament in 2020 as well as the winners of the National College Championship, Professors Tournament and two winners from the show’s first-ever Second Chance competition.

Ahasic competes on the episode that airs Friday, Nov. 4.

Three of the other contestants performed so strongly during their first run, they’ll skip straight to the semifinal round after battling each other in a first-of-its-kind special exhibition game on Nov. 8. And they stand among the show’s all-time top five players in terms of consecutive games won and highest winnings for regular season play: Amy Schneider (40 games), Matt Amodio (38 games) and Mattea Roach (23 games).

The No. 1 player with the most consecutive wins and largest regular season winnings is Ken Jennings, who will host the Tournament of Champions.

FAN TURNED CHAMPION

Fittingly, it was Jennings’ record-breaking streak of 74 consecutive wins in 2004 that turned the 33-year-old Ahasic into a “Jeopardy!” fan. He applied 15 times over the years before he finally made it onto the show.

When Ahasic arrived on set for the first time in April – the show films in advance, five episodes per day, twice a week – he learned he was not only going to compete in the first game of the day, he was up against Ryan Long, who had won nearly $300,000 over the course of 16 games. (Long will compete on the first day of the Tournament of Champions on Monday.)

A meteorologist at the Chanhassen office of the National Weather Service since 2015, Ahasic said the experience was nerve wracking and utterly exhausting, both physically and mentally. And yet he proved to be a natural and, thanks in part to his keen ability to find and win Daily Doubles, he entered Final Jeopardy! with enough money to ensure his win for five of his first six episodes.

But in his seventh time at Final Jeopardy, a Watergate question did him in and he lost by a mere $2.

ENJOYING THE EXPERIENCE

When Ahasic returned to tape the Tournament of Champions in September, he was far less nervous and much more interested in just enjoying the experience.

“Everyone’s games are out there, there’s all the stats out there,” Ahasic said. “Everyone’s really good. And we all hung out and got to know each other. It was really cool. But two people go home at the end of each episode and it was almost like you don’t want to see your friends lose.

“If you’re a fan of ‘Jeopardy!’ – especially ‘Jeopardy!’ played at the highest level – you’ve got to watch the tournament. Don’t just tune in for my episode, tune in for all of them. They’re all really good.”

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