CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If “Jeopardy!” has taught us anything over the past 12 months, it’s that at least two of the smartest people in the nation are from Ohio.
Reigning champion Amy Schneider, an engineering manager originally from Dayton, kept her amazing streak going on Friday by winning on her straight 38th game. She now moves into a second-place tie with Medina’s Matt Amodio on the game show’s list for most consecutive games won. Only current “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings has more with 74.
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Like many of her victories, the game was decided before “Final Jeopardy!” as she held an insurmountable lead over her competitors, Avinash Rajendra, a Ph.D. student from Milwaukee, and Koré Carey, an office manager from Georgia, heading into the final category, which was “Mountains.” Schneider was the only contestant to answer the question correctly, cementing the win and adding $54,000 to her winnings. That pushed her total so far to $1,307,200, good for fourth place on the all-time list behind Jennings ($2,520,700), James Holzhauer ($2,462,216) and Amodio ($1,518,601). She is the winningest woman in the show’s 38-season history.
Amodio, whose streak ended back in October, and Schneider are expected to participate in the highly anticipated “Tournament of Champions” later this season. But before that, she returns on Monday to defend her title. “Jeopardy!” airs locally weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on WOIO Channel 19.