A 20-year-old student from Wheaton, Ill., netted $69,002 over five days during his appearance on “Jeopardy!” Ashok Poozhikunnel, who first appeared on the show Jan. 3, was ousted Jan. 9 by Kristin Morgan of Huntsville, Ala.

According to his Facebook page, Poozhikunnel attends the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and works as an underwriting benefits consultant at Gallagher Benefit Services in Itasca, Ill. On his third appearance Jan. 7, Poozhikunnel told host Alex Trebek that after being selected for the contest, he practiced with his brother to sharpen his general knowledge skills while his sister played the role of the show host.

Poonzhikunnel made a mere $3,400 on his fourth appearance Jan. 8, but that $3,400 won him the game. The following day, he started with the lead with $4,200 in the first round; found the Daily Double in the “U.S. Place Names” category and bet $4,000, but guessed the wrong answer and ended the round last with $1,200.

Poozhikunnel was in the third place at the of the Double Jeopardy round with $6,400. None of the contestants could correctly answer the Final Jeopardy question in the “World Capitals” category: These two world capitals are separated by only 250 miles of land and less than 1 degree of latitude at 59° 17′ and 59° 57′ N. The answer: Oslo and Stockholm. Poozhikunnel went farther south with Seoul and Pyongyang and bet all his money. He finished the game with zero.

In his first appearance on the show Jan. 3, a confident Poozhikunnel was leading with $3,000. After finding the Daily Double in the “Historical Hodgepodge” category, he wagered $1,000, got the answer right and increased his lead to $4,000. In the Double Jeopardy round, he found the first Daily Double in the “10 Characters, 5 Authors” category, bet $2,000, but got the answer wrong.

But he finished in the lead and was the only contestant to get the Final Jeopardy answer correct. The question in the category “Sex & The Constitution” was: “Of the 27 Amendments to the Constitution, it’s the number of the only one to contain the word ‘sex.’ “ The correct response: “What is the 19th Amendment.” The 19th Amendment prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. 

In his second appearance, Poozhikunnel seemed to look more at ease. He arrived on Jan. 4 with a one-day total of $21, 600 and finished the first round in the lead with $8,800. He also found the last Daily Double in the “Let Me Preface That” category and cemented his lead. 

Despite being the only contestant to get the Final Jeopardy answer wrong, Poozhikunnel, who bet $6,599, ended up with $18,001 making him the two-day champion with a total of $39,601. The question in the category “Imaginary Characters” was: For a 1921 play, they were dubbed Blick, Flick, Glick, Snick, Plick, Whick & Quee; 25 years later, they got new names. The correct answer: Who are the seven dwarves – which Poozhikunnel answered incorrectly as the Munchkins. 

On Jan. 7, the third day, Poozhikunnel, who seemed to have got off to a decent start, faltered in the first round, but picked up pace in the Double Jeopardy round having found the first Daily Double in the “Days of Yore” category. He had $3,200; he bet $3,000 and with the correct answer increased his total to $6,200. He also found the last Daily Double in “Female Firsts.” 

With a lead of $15,000, Poozhikunnel bet $3,000 again but gave the wrong answer and dropped his total to $12,000. 

All of the contestants got the Final Jeopardy answer – Babe Ruth – right and having bet $7,201, Poozhikunnel won with a total of $26,001, putting him on Jeopardy’s Top 12 list of highest prize money winners. 

The question in the category “American Sports Legends” was: A bio from 1974, 26 years after his death, quotes him: “I swing big … I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.

On the fourth day, Poozhikunnel lucked out and barely managed to stay on. He found the Daily Double in “The 6 New England States” on the third pick. He was in the lead with $400; bet $1,000 and with the right answer, he upped his score to 1,400.He finished in the lead with $9,000, but though he remained quiet in most part of the Double Jeopardy round, he managed to find the last Daily Double in “Editor.” 

He was in last place with $12,600, but his bet of $6,000 let his finish in the lead with $21,400. 

However none of the contestants could crack the answer for Final Jeopardy. The question in “Presidential Distinctions” category was: Record holder for the longest time lived after leaving office; and the answer: Jimmy Carter, Jr.

Poozhikunnel wrote down “Teddy Roosevelt,” not even in the Top 10 with 3,595 days. He bet $18,000 but, thanks to saving a few thousand in hopes of at least taking second place, Poozhikunnel triumphed once again. He won the game with $3,400, ending with a four-day total of $69,002.