Oberlin prof is a 'Jeopardy!' champ

After trailing badly in the first round, Oberlin College economics professor Ron Cheung surged ahead to become a "Jeopardy!" champion Wednesday night, winning $19,599. He faced off against Andy Tirrell, a political science and international relations professor from San Diego, and Tammy Groner, a legal assistant from Hamilton, New Jersey. Tirrell entered the game as a "giant killer," according to quiz show host Ken Jennings — the prior night, he took down champion Cris Pannullo, who amassed $748,286 in a 21-game winning streak. The episode didn't start well for Cheung, a native of Alberta, Canada, who now lives in Lakewood and teaches courses on public and urban economics at Oberlin. Outside of a clue about "Wall Street" protagonist Gordon Gekko — which he answered correctly — Cheung didn't luck out with much touching on his area of expertise. He didn't easily find his speed with the buzzer and trailed early in the game, ending the first round with just $1,400. That put Cheung behind Groner by more than $10,000. During the interview portion of the show, he told Jennings about taking his children on a trip across 21 states and two Canadian provinces during a recent sabbatical. In the second round, Cheung wagered $2,000 on a Daily Double clue and correctly identified a pair of Austrian skiers. Later, he hit on the second Daily Double and wagered $9,000 on the category "Sequels." The clue challenged him to name the fiction book series in which "Insurgent" is the second book — Cheung nailed it by answering, "What is 'Divergent'?" The feat allowed him to sprint into the lead. Cheung ended the round in second place with $22,000 and just $200 behind Groner. The Final Jeopardy! category was U.S. Presidents: "He was sworn in twice as president within two years — first by his father and then later by a former U.S. president." In an interview Tuesday, Cheung admitted that, as a Canadian, U.S. history was not his strong suit. It was a subject he tried to brush up on before flying to Los Angeles in October for filming. Cheung incorrectly guessed John Quincy Adams, but lucked out when his opponents also missed the mark. The correct answer was Calvin Coolidge. But Cheung had hedged with a wager of just $2,401 and ended up the champion. That means the Oberlin prof will choose the first clue in tonight's episode, when he takes on Sriram Krishnan, a consultant from Falls Church, Virginia, and A.Z. Madonna, a music journalist from Malden, Massachusetts. Oberlin College will be represented twice over in the episode. Madonna is a 2015 alumna who majored in East Asian studies, and in her senior year won the Rubin Prize in Music Criticism. "Jeopardy!" airs at 7:30 p.m. on WOIO Channel 19. Jason Hawk can be reached at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.