NH’s Newest “Jeopardy!” Champion is Five Times Lucky

Kevlar. That’s one word Greg Jolin never wants to hear or see again, because it’s the correct response to the clue that ended his epic run on the popular TV quiz show “Jeopardy!” 

“I know there’s a psychological term for it. I think it’s Baader-Meinhof syndrome,” New Hampshire’s newest “Jeopardy!” champion says. “It’s once that you see something, then you keep seeing it, over and over again. I’ve seen the word Kevlar now so many times since then.” 

Jolin, who hails from Raymond, passed multiple tests plus an audition to realize his lifelong dream of competing on the show last fall, and he aced five consecutive games — and four by landslide — on editions airing from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6. 

The defending champion was the prohibitive favorite in his sixth game and in contention in the “Final Jeopardy” round to extend the streak. Then host Ken Jennings revealed the category “1960s Inventions” and read the clue that must be answered in the form of a question by the three contestants on stage. 

“Poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide was first intended to reinforce radial tires, but the life-saving polymer also known as this would have many uses,” Jennings read. As the well-known “Jeopardy!” theme song chimed in the background for 30 seconds, Jolin scribbled his answer: “What is Styrofoam?” 

Nope, it’s Kevlar. “Arrrgh. It’s just one of those things,” Jolin, 39, a former systems analyst and accountant, says of the random clue. 

“Jeopardy!” normally tapes five shows in a single day in a Hollywood studio. Contestants bring wardrobe changes, and during the taping for each show they only get short timeouts that correspond to the commercial breaks, which viewers see at home. Once you win your game, it’s straight ahead to the next one.

“On my first taping day, I didn’t get on until the second to last show, and I won
two shows that day. Then I had to stay over in Los Angeles until the following Monday, and I was woefully unprepared because I didn’t expect to do that well. I didn’t have enough outfits, so I had to go shopping over the weekend with my wife to buy more clothes. It’s a good thing I won three more shows so I could pay those bills,” he says with a laugh.

“Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions” – Season 41 – Show #9258 – Airdate 01/29/25

During his magical five-game run, Jolin displayed an impressive knowledge of broadly diverse categories, was strategic in wagering and mastered the buzzer to give himself first-response opportunities while maintaining control of the board. Moreover, he dominated all “Final Jeopardy” rounds with correct answers in each, an incredible feat within itself. 

Jolin got the call in August asking if he could be on the show in Los Angeles in mid-September, not giving him a long time to prepare. But he knew what to expect.

 “One of the things people say about “Jeopardy!,” as opposed to what I would classify as tougher competitions like College Quiz Bowl, is that the knowledge you need is a mile wide but an inch deep,” says the graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who has a master’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University. “They’re generally not going to go into depth on the subject.”

Thanks to Internet sites, contestants prepping for the show can examine every clue that has ever been asked on “Jeopardy!”.

“I spent time drilling down on the essentials. You can learn all the world capitals, you can learn all the Best Picture Oscar winners, you can learn a lot of books and authors, and those are the kinds of things I focused on, and a lot of them paid off for me,” he says.

When Jolin ultimately lost his sixth competition, it was in his fourth game of the
day. At that stage he was battling fatigue in every form.

“I have so much respect for the people who can win five games in one day and come right back the next and win five more games,” he says. “It can be exhausting. It’s not just the physical fatigue but it’s mental as well, because your brain has to recall everything.”

He could feel that fatigue during the last game — and he knew he wasn’t doing well.

“I started guessing, which my wife told me not to do. I remember one clue I got wrong, which was the worst one because I knew the right answer, but my brain and mouth connection went on the fritz,” Jolin says. “The correct answer was melatonin, but even though I knew it, I said ‘melanin’. That was a $2,000 clue I missed, so it was pretty consequential in the outcome.” 

Nonetheless, as a five-time champion, and one who had racked up total earnings of $135,000, he qualified for a berth in “Jeopardy!”’s 32nd Tournament of Champions. He was flown back to Los Angeles to begin taping the first round on Jan. 29. 

In that game, he found both “Daily Doubles” for $2,000 in the Double Jeopardy round, but missed both so even though he answered correctly in “Final Jeopardy,” it wasn’t enough to advance.

“In my Tournament of Champions game, I got blown out because I didn’t trust myself. For one clue, I knew the right answer was ‘halogen,’ but after I rang in, I doubted myself and said something else instead. Again, that was a $2,000 clue I blew when I was desperately trying to catch up. I didn’t follow my wife’s advice to follow my first instinct, which is always going to be right more times than not,” he says. 

Jolin joins Amy Bekkerman of Durham, who won three games on the show in 2021, and Maureen O’Neill of Rye, who had a four-game winning streak in 2022, as New Hampshire’s most recent “Jeopardy!” champion. They’ve become local celebrities who
get recognized at the grocery store and around town.

“I don’t think I’m smart because I’ve memorized a bunch of trivia facts,” he says. “It’s just a hobby that I turned out to be good at.”

Five-time “Jeopardy!” champion Greg Jolin of Raymond first tried out to be a contestant on the popular national TV quiz show in 2003 when he was a college freshman, but failed the test. After trying again several times over the years and then passing the test, plus an audition, he got the call in 2024.  

During his magical run on the show, he bankrolled $135,000 and earned an invitation to the Tournament of Champions. 

“This was a worthwhile experience,” says Jolin, 39. “One of the great benefits of being on the show is there are contestant communities online that I’ve become a part of, and that’s a really cool thing. I’ve made friends within our community.” 

It’s an exclusive club.

“I’ve done something that’s unique, and there is such a small percentage of people that have done this,” he says. “It’s such a weird thing to do because fundamentally, the people who get on “Jeopardy!” are just normal people. “But now you’re suddenly getting broadcast on national TV on a show that millions of people watch.”