‘Jeopardy!’s Champions Wildcard Crowns Winner — Who Will Play in the Tournament of Champions?

Spoiler Alert

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Jeopardy!‘s Champions Wildcard run has officially come to an end as finalists Mehal Shah, Drew Goins, and Will Yancey went head-to-head for the grand prize of $100,000 and a coveted spot in the Tournament of Champions.

So, who reigned supreme? The game was Drew or Mehal’s to lose as Will trailed behind their scores for most of the competition, but despite Drew’s marginal lead at the end of Double Jeopardy, it didn’t seem to be a match for Mehal’s impressive run as he scored big with the game’s final Daily Double clue.

When entering Final Jeopardy, the point breakdown was Will with 3,600, Drew with 10,200, and Mehal with a staggering 19,000. The clue for the round in the category “Composers,” read, “‘Troll Hill’ is the name of his country home, the grounds of which include a concert hall & a lakeside cabin where he worked.”

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The correct response was “Who was Grieg?” In the end, none of the players provided the correct response, but Mehal wagered zero points, while Will and Drew ended the game with zero. Combined with their scores from the previous game, the final breakdown was Will with 5,600, Drew with 17,600, and Mehal with 46,200.

That means Mehal was the Champions Wildcard winner, earning him the $100,000 prize and a spot in the Tournament of Champions. The software engineer from Seattle, Washington took time to thank those closest to him on Reddit, commenting, “We had to be brief when thanking people in the finals, but I sure don’t have to be brief here. So here’s everyone that I want to thank that I didn’t get to,” Mehal began.

He went on to thank Adam Hersch, Grant DeYoung, his fellow competitors, teachers, James Holzhauer, Josh Allen, his daughter, wife, coworkers, and “Anyone who ever worked on Microsoft Excel.”

When Mehal thanked his wife, he wrote, “When I first got the call, I wasn’t sure if I could do it – we have an energetic toddler and a son on the way in a few months. She’s never been anything shy of 110% for this goal and believed in me even when I didn’t. I know she has some big life goals for her future, and I look forward to supporting her the way that she’s supported me.”

See Mehal’s full comment, below, and let us know what you think of the Champions Wildcard results in the comments section, below.