Jeopardy! Teen Tournament

The Jeopardy! Teen Tournament is a yearly tournament on the American television game show Jeopardy! It features middle school and high school students between the ages of thirteen and eighteen.

The tournament plays like the Tournament of Champions. 15 contestants play in a two week tournament. The first five games are the quarterfinals, with three new contestants each day. The winners of the five games move on to the semi-finals. The four losing contestants with the highest scores also move on as "wild card" players. If there is a tie at the end of a game, a Final Jeopardy!-type answer is given, and the first player to ring in with the correct response wins the game. If all three players have a score of zero, none of the contestants move on to the semi-finals, and another wild card spot is added. The next three games are the semi-final games. The three winners of the semi-finals move on to the finals. The last two games are the two-day finals. In both games, the contestants start with zero scores, and the contestants' final scores from the two days are added together to see who is the winner. The contestant with the highest score from the two days wins. The other two contestants win smaller cash prizes.

Contestant selection

1990s
Would-be contestants mailed postcards with their names and addresses to Jeopardy!. 1,200 teens were selected at random from the postcard entries and were invited to come (at their own expense) to one of four regional test centers (e.g. Houston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles) to take a timed written qualifying examination with the 50 clues read by Alex Trebek on a video monitor at the front of an exam room. Passing scorers were invited back for an interview and mock game using an electronic buzzer system. Their photographs are taken for their files, and they are asked to fill out a short information sheet with interesting facts about themselves that may be later used by Alex Trebek during the interview portion of the show. Selected contestants and alternates were notified that they had been chosen to appear on the show one to two months later. They are then flown to Los Angeles to tape the show. Taping occurs over a period of two days, with the five quarterfinals played on the first day and the three semifinals and two final games played on the second day. Accommodations were provided for the contestants at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, with taping taking place at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

2000s
Contestants registered on the Jeopardy! web site rather than submitting postcards. As before, a select number of registrants were invited to audition and take a written test at a regional audition. Accommodations for contestants are provided at the Hilton in Universal City, California.

2006–2019
All web site registrants take a 50-question timed online test at one set test time, usually late February. The test is given using Adobe Flash and takers are given 15 seconds per clue to type in their responses. A random selection of those who pass the test are invited to attend regional auditions in November at 4 locations around the United States at which another 50-question written test is given, followed by interviews and mock games. The number of students selected for the regional auditions is usually around 300, from which 15 are selected for the show.

Prizes
 Year(s) Finalists (guaranteed amounts) Semifinalists Quarterfinalists Winner Second place Third place 1987 $25,000
(and a spot in the
Tournament of Champions) $5,000 $5,000 $1,000 1988-1997 $10,000 $7,500 1999 $15,000 $10,000 $2,500 2001 $50,000 2002–2003 $20,000 $15,000 2004–2005 $75,000 $25,000 2006–2014 $10,000 $5,000 2016−2019 $100,000 $50,000 $25,000

Other prizes
 Until 2000, all Teen Tournament winners were invited to participate in the Tournament of Champions. When eligible, eight Teen Tournament winners made the Tournament of Champions semifinals, but none ever advanced to the finals.
 In 1999 and again from 2001 to 2003, the Teen Tournament winner was awarded a new car (a Chevrolet Cavalier in 1999, a Chevrolet Tracker in 2001, a Mitsubishi Eclipse GS Convertible in 2002, and a Volkswagen New Beetle in 2003).
 Contestants in the 2005 Teen Tournament were awarded a computer package.
 Some Teen Tournament winners were later invited to Jeopardy!'s "all-time best" tournaments.
 1989 winner Eric Newhouse was a Super Jeopardy! semifinalist in 1990, a Million Dollar Masters finalist in 2002, and received a bye to the second round of 2005's Ultimate Tournament of Champions.
 All but 2 Teen Tournament winners to that point competed in 2005's Ultimate Tournament of Champions, with 1992 winner April McManus & 1995 winner Matthew Zielenski both advancing to the quarterfinals.
 1991 winner Andrew Westney competed in the 1980s round of 2014's Battle of the Decades tournament (after being voted in as the fan favorite amongst past champions from the 1980s in an online vote), but lost in his match.
 2013 winner Leonard Cooper competed in 2019's All-Star Games tournament as a member of Team Austin Rogers. His team wound up competing in the wildcard match where they were eliminated, collecting and splitting $75,000.
 2019 Semifinalist and 2023 High School Reunion winner Justin Bolsen competed in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.
 Fall 2008 semifinalist Brandon Saunders and Cooper competed in the 2024 Invitational Tournament.
 2018 winner Claire Sattler, 1st runner-up Maya Wright, 2019 winner Avi Gupta, and semifinalist Jackson Jones competed in the 2025 Invitational Tournament.

List of participants
The following is a list of contestants and where they placed in the tournament. Winners and runners-up who earned more than the minimum guarantees are as indicated in parentheses.

 Finalists Semifinalists QuarterfinalistsSeason 3 (February 16–27, 1987) Winner: Michael Galvin1st runner-up: Mitch Epner ($13,800)2nd runner-up: Dana Venator Mike BeckerPaul EgendorfBrian KaltSalil KumarLisa PattersonDavid Simon Felicia CorralezCreswell FormeyCurt KingDawn Marie NolanSara StanchinaAmy WilsonSeason 4 (February 8–19, 1988) Winner: Michael Block1st runner-up: David Javerbaum ($21,400)2nd runner-up: David Graham ($14,300) Jason AlbertChris CapozzolaSascha DublinNeil GronewetterMark WongStefanie Wulfestieg Mia DiamondSarah FanningDelaine FossGene HayesEric ReidJulie RobichauxSeason 5 (February 6–17, 1989) Winner: Eric Newhouse ($28,100)1st runner-up: Stanley Wu ($15,700)2nd runner-up: Elena Whitley ($13,400) Kristen BrimusDan ChaseRyan GodfreyMatt LindleyPeter MorrisMatt Pearson David DodsonTracy FisherMarny HelfrichSamantha MoeschlerGreg PardeLaura SpearSeason 6 (February 5–16, 1990) Winner: Jamie Weiss ($26,000)1st runner-up: Andrew McGeorge ($15,400)2nd runner-up: Richard Morris ($11,799) Peji GhanouniMike GrantScott HoffmanBeth MullinsWen ShenAvi Stadler Chris BlackJennifer DikesDionne KingSharon KristalKate VekslerStacey WhiteSeason 7 (February 11–22, 1991)Jeopardy Teen Tournament Intros Winner: Andy Westney1st runner-up: Dana Bacon ($17,400)2nd runner-up: Julie Knauer ($13,992) Joann ChanKareem CraytonAgatha FeltusRobert FieldingMaggie LargeJim Paluszak Chris BecknerDan GordonFrancesca KhactuChristy PetersonLauren SagerHanna StotlandSeason 8 (February 24–March 6, 1992) Winner: April McManus1st runner-up: Cori Van Noy ($10,600)2nd runner-up: Jill Young Dylan FulmerPat GavinMatt KaneRob MarusRaj RaghavanBecky Slitt Jason ColbyKC HarrisMuffy Marracco MorrisMelissa MurrayTrucle NguyenAdrienne Williams
Kevin Hayes Season 9 (February 15–26, 1993) Winner: Fraser Woodford ($28,999)1st runner-up: Jesse Roach ($12,600)2nd runner-up: Mit Robertson ($8,400) Anne BlackNancy DickmanPatricia LarashLev OsherovichCarrie PruettSuj Vijayan Chris DobberteanJessi GileBrent KeelingBecky PawlowskiColin RaffertyScott SteigerSeason 10 (February 14–25, 1994) Winner: Matt Morris ($29,601)1st runner-up: Peter Steffen ($22,999)2nd runner-up: Paul Loeffler ($13,200) Jesse IrwinJeremy MantaE.J. SierackiGerry TanseyDorothy ThompsonFelicia Wu Scott AlportRebecca CinderbrandAlice HandleyCarsten ReichelValerie VolcoviciJonathan ZimmermanSeason 11 (February 6–17, 1995) Winner: Matthew Zielenski ($42,300)1st runner-up: Susannah Batko-Yovino ($26,200)2nd runner-up: Deborah Sager ($17,300) Chris JacobsSujit RamanMathew SandlerShannon SheltonChuck TruesdellHalla Yang Erika BrownCourtney DonovanGwen ShenGus SplittorfJim StichenMartha Van HoySeason 12 (May 6–17, 1996) Winner: Amanda Goad ($31,200)1st runner-up: Derek Bridges ($31,200)2nd runner-up: Joe Gurski ($24,800) Linda AlilaJulee BaberAnthony ChiuPeter M. FriedmanGeoffrey HatchardBen Healy Carmen AbrazadoHeather BurnettTalisha BurtonLawson FitePenelope PajelJodi SangsterSeason 13 (February 3–14, 1997) Winner: Josh Den Hartog1st runner-up: Justin Powell ($17,125)2nd runner-up: Akiva Fox Fran BigmanMatthew BurgessPooja DhumeBrandon FrantzFaith HillisTanis O'Connor Chad BellAudrey DroeschSharon DruckRita HamadBrian JosephAlex RubalcayaSeason 14 (November 3–14, 1997), with its second week at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Winner: Sahir Islam ($26,300)1st runner-up: Enos Williams ($20,800)2nd runner-up: Kristen Stuckey ($14,400) Evan JohnsonJonathan LoweJames SumnerKathy ThompsonBea VoKira Whelan Julie AnastasiMeghan ArnoldRachel JohnsonDeon LackeyJennifer RehmannJustin WatkinsSeason 15 Teen Reunion Tournament (November 16–20, 1998) at the Boch Center in Boston, Massachusetts Winner: Eric Newhouse1st runner-up: David Javerbaum2nd runner-up: Chris Capozzola Sascha DublinCreswell FormeySamantha MoeschlerPeter MorrisJulie RobichauxAmy WilsonStan WuStefanie WulfestiegDana VenatorSeason 15 (February 22–March 5, 1999) Winner: Melissa Sexstone1st runner-up: Trish Ranney ($17,600)2nd runner-up: Elizabeth Nyman Jeff CaryLina GhoshKatie HallidayOliver LongwellSam SankerJoan Williams Nate BuddeMilo DochowBrian DunlapLindsay EmbyskKitty RobertsRubani TrimiewSeason 16 (November 1–12, 1999) with its second week at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City Winner: Chacko George1st runner-up: Emily Deveau2nd runner-up: Kristi Jones ($10,700) Jack ChallisErin GellGerrit HallBrittan HellerChrissy IjamsElizabeth Norton Miguel DicksonScott DuquetteBrian GoldenMarcia HensleyBrian PolkAdam TrabkaSeason 17 (April 30–May 11, 2001) at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Winner: Graham Gilmer1st runner-up: Andy Siegler2nd runner-up: Colleen Mahoney Ryan BallangeeLogan BellKatherine BusheyMisti CoronelJonathan ReinsteinAlexis Stevens Caley AndersonPaige FeldmanTom HartmannNicole ReimerAmanda TrujilloFarah ZolghadrSeason 18 (February 4–15, 2002) Winner: Bernard Holloway1st runner-up: George Nelson ($29,497)2nd runner-up: Seth Disner ($28,900) Lindsey BartlettHeidi GreimannEmily KarrsAndy KravisEvan StewartLiana Walters Anna GohmannBlake HernandezSeveen KannankaraMargaret MonroeAllie PapeDan RoylesSeason 19 (February 3–14, 2003) Winner: John Zhang1st runner-up: Tyler Allard ($28,400)2nd runner-up: Anthony Valente ($24,799) Russell BerrisStephanie EhresmanTara KarrJohn MatthewsBenjamin SwartzShuyu Wang Susan BellenotKendra ChapmanJonathan GillermanJoel KnightBrittany McCantsElizabeth MullowneySeason 20 (February 9–20, 2004) Winner: Jennifer Wu1st runner-up: Chris Holden2nd runner-up: Courtney Bennis Meghan ApfelbaumHeather GoodlettKerry LambethMuhammad MeigooniMatt NordstenOliver Sherouse Ashley AndersonEmily BirkelLauren DrellBrad HoffJason RindenauZach SchoepflinSeason 21 (January 26 – February 8, 2005) Winner: Michael Braun1st runner-up: Wes Kovarik ($30,000)2nd runner-up: Anne Shivers ($18,000) Caitlin CookRuvani FonsekaSteve GoldenJimmy LiPeter SeversonOrlando Zambrano Vanamali ComptonAmy FletcherAllan LongWhitney PrinceKerri ReganChloé WhiteSeason 22 (February 6–17, 2006) Winner: Papa Chakravarthy1st runner-up: Andrew Kreitz2nd runner-up: Matt Klein Camille BullockJoseph GraumannIddoshe HirpaDavid HoffelmeyerSebastian JohnsonAllison Peña Laura AnsleyKatie JamesLoren LoiaconoLauren RomeroKenneth SchlaxAndrew WatkinsSeason 23 (February 5–16, 2007) Winner: David Walter1st runner-up: Ben Schenkel ($42,800)2nd runner-up: Stephen Fritz ($25,460) Caroline BartmanFrank FirkeHeidi FogleNaomi HinchenMyles JeffreyHank Robinson Kristin BriggsAllison DziubaJeffrey GerlomesCaroline JonesHeidi LiuEliza UrbanSeason 23 Teen Tournament Summer Games (July 16–27, 2007) Winner: Meryl Federman1st runner-up: Greg Peterson ($38,600)2nd runner-up: Kyle Neblett ($36,400) Lisa AckermanJeffrey BaerKriti GandhiRachel GottesmanAndy HutchinsAiden Pink Kristiana HendersonAmy LevineTommy MarangesLindsey NicolaiBen NoeAmy VaralloSeason 24 (February 11–22, 2008) Winner: Rachel Horn1st runner-up: Rachel "Steve" Cooke ($25,000)2nd runner-up: Zia Choudhury ($18,000) Hunter BrownWill CasperTodd FaulkenberryKatie GillMelissa LuttmannNaren Tallapragada Maria BenniciBonnie CaoMollie HaycockBecky KralleJanelle LambertNick PhilipSeason 25 (November 10–21, 2008) Winner: Anurag Kashyap 1st runner-up: Bradley Silverman ($44,600)2nd runner-up: Audrey Hosford ($26,400) Ben ChuchlaShelby MaloneSarah MarxBrandon SaundersJay SchraderKaran Takhar Haley BatzCharlie CarberyCasey CloughKatie HoughtonDrew ScheelerChristopher WeisSeason 26 (November 2–13, 2009) Winner: Rachel Rothenberg1st runner-up: Will Dantzler ($31,600)2nd runner-up: Aidan Mehigan Zach BlumenfeldSolomon HowardGabriel JohnsonHema KarunakaramGabe OrletLindsay Oxx Bonny JainEmily LeverStephanie RadkeSamantha RebackKennedy StompsForrest Sturgill Season 27 (February 17–March 2, 2011) Winner: Raynell Cooper1st runner-up: Kailyn LaPorte ($42,600)2nd runner-up: Raya Elias-Pushett ($20,851) Nikhil DesaiErin HartIdrees KahloonLindsey ThiesfeldKate WadmanBrandon Welch Cosi AudiRaphie CantorSteven HoChristian IeCarlee JensenAndrew Van DuynSeason 28 (April 30–May 11, 2012) with its second week at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Winner: Elyse Mancuso ($79,600)1st runner-up: Rose Schaefer ($36,000)2nd runner-up: Catherine Briley ($31,000) Krishna BharathalaEvan EschlimanBen GreenhoAnshika NirajEliza ScrutonKevin Yang Morgan FloodGabriela GonzalesJeff HaylonSam LeanzaCaleb OlsonRob SchraderSeason 29 (January 30–February 12, 2013) Winner: Leonard Cooper1st runner-up: Barrett Block ($35,600)2nd runner-up: Nilai Sarda ($26,400) Tori AmosWilliam CrouchKelton EllisEmily GreenbergIrene VazquezJoe Vertnik Lila AndersonArjun ByjuOlivia HummerBrittany PoppenKatie StoneJordan VillanuevaSeason 30 (July 21–August 1, 2014) Winner: Jeff Xie1st runner-up: Alan Koolik ($54,200)2nd runner-up: Cooper Lair ($31,200) Kat DeabillWilliam GoldenSelena GrohSam LernerSydney MokelJoe Taglic Nikki AiriEileen BunchErin ChristopherKevin HuangAnanya NrusimhaJosiah TakangSeason 33 (November 9–22, 2016) at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. Winner: Sharath Narayan1st runner-up: Alec Fischthal2nd runner-up: Michael Borecki Lily AllinghamLucia GengApurva KannegantiAntonio KaridesEmily LaMonicaConnor Pierce Leeyu AddisuJack BekosPorter BowmanSabrina DuongMichael KwanJasmine WheelerSeason 35 (November 7-20, 2018) Winner: Claire Sattler1st runner-up: Emma Arnold2nd runner-up: Maya Wright Tim ChoJack IzzoRohan KapileshwariCaleb RichmondAudrey SatchiviAutumn Shelton Maggie BrownRotimi KukoyiAnish MaddipotiDan OxmanIsabella PaganoRhea SinhaSeason 35 (June 17-28, 2019) Winner: Avi Gupta1st runner-up: Ryan Presler2nd runner-up: Lucas Miner Justin BolsenJackson JonesHannah NekritzTeagan O'SullivanEesha SohailShriya Yarlagadda Rohit KatariaSreekar MadabushiStephanie PiersonAlison PurcellAudrey SarinSophia Weng

 Amanda Goad and Derek Bridges were tied for first place at the end of the 1996 Teen Tournament. The tie was broken in a special tiebreaker round. The category was U.S. Cities and the answer was "A November 1995 Bosnian peace accord is named for this city". The correct response, given by Amanda, was "What was Dayton, Ohio?". The 2012 Teen Tournament also ended in a tie in the last quarterfinal match between Evan Eschliman and Gabriela Gonzales. The category was Literary Characters and the answer was "Although he doesn't actually appear in 1984, his presence is everywhere—on posters, coins & telescreens". The correct response, given by Evan was "Who is Big Brother?" (Evan advanced to the semifinals, but Gabriela did not have enough money to make it via wildcard). Jeff Xie and Alan Koolik were tied for first place at the end of the 2014 Teen Tournament. The tie was broken in a special tiebreaker round. The category was the Civil War and the answer was "The battles of Shiloh and Collierville were fought in this state". The correct response, given by Jeff, was "What is Tennessee?". Avi Gupta and Jackson Jones were tied for first place at the last semifinals of the 2019 Teen Tournament. The tie was broken in a special tiebreaker round. The category was American History and the answer was "Types of it you could find in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773 included Souchong & Bohea". The correct response given by Avi was "What is Tea?".J! Archive–Help–Tiebreaker Round definition

 Owing to a questionable judges' ruling in Final Jeopardy!, Milo Dochow was brought back for the Winter 2000 Jeopardy! College Championship; however, he failed to advance to the semifinals.

 Peter Morris in 1989 and Muffy Marracco Morris in 1992 were the first pair of siblings to appear in the Teen Tournament; they are brother and sister. Peter Morris appeared again in the 1998 Teen Reunion Tournament. Wen Shen in 1990 and Gwen Shen of 1995 were also brother and sister. Lauren Sager (1991) and Deborah Sager (1995) are sisters.The Daily Pennsylvanian 'Jeopardy!' star quick on the buzzer  Jay Schrader (2008) and Rob Schrader (2012) are brothers.

 Leonard Cooper in 2013 is the only contestant in Jeopardy! tournament history (all tournaments combined) to lose his semifinal but win the tournament. A triple-zero score in the second semifinal necessitated the use of the wild card option in the semifinals, similar to the first round. In the third semifinal, Nilai Sarda ($30,400) defeated Cooper ($30,200) and Emily Greenberg ($24,400). The only other non-zero semifinal score was Irene Vazquez ($100) from the first semifinal.  Since then, all Jeopardy! tournament semifinals require a winner.  A triple-zero score will now require a tie-breaker.

Merchandising
A console game based upon the Teen Tournament was released in the mid 1990s for the Nintendo Game Boy.

Teen Reunion Tournament
The Jeopardy! Teen Reunion Tournament was a special one-week tournament held in November 1998 at the Boch Center in Boston, Massachusetts that invited back 12 former Teen Tournament contestants from the first three tournaments on Jeopardy!

Format
Twelve former Teen Tournament contestants competed three at a time in four qualifying round matches. Winning contestants who were among the top three scorers would play in the final match for $50,000. Losing qualifiers took home $5,000, while the non-playing finalist took home $7,500. The third-place finisher took home a minimum guarantee of $10,000, while the second-place finisher was entitled to a minimum guarantee of $15,000. The highest scoring player in the finals took home $50,000.

The two nonwinning finalists also received the board game Game of the Year by University Games as well as a Tigris Pyramid and Movana.

Results
Qualifying round
 November 16, 1998: Dana Venator defeated Peter Morris and Creswell Formey.
 November 17, 1998: David Javerbaum defeated Amy Wilson and Sascha Dublin.
 November 18, 1998: Eric Newhouse defeated Stefanie Wulfestieg and Julie Robichaux.
 November 19, 1998: Chris Capozzola defeated Stanley Wu and Samantha Moeschler.
Capozzola, Javerbaum, and Newhouse advanced to the finals.
Finals
 November 20, 1998: Newhouse defeated Javerbaum and Capozzola.

 References 

Other websites
 Official Jeopardy! website

Category:Jeopardy!