Carlton native wins 'Jeopardy!' quarterfinals by just $1

Mar. 28—CARLTON — Everybody at the Streetcar Kitchen and Pub was on the edge of their seats during Thursday's broadcast of "Jeopardy!" — which starred hometowner Sam Kavanaugh in his third bid on the popular quiz show.

As the game entered its final round, Kavanaugh was trailing with $12,000 to Monica Thieu's $15,800. The final question was "TIME mentioned 'cruelty & enforced conformity' when summing up this novel with a 'stonily silent narrator.'"

It was a triple stumper. The correct answer was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," but both Kavanaugh and Thieu answered "1984" while returning "Jeopardy!" legend Chuck Forrest answered "Lord of the Flies." However, Thieu was feeling just one dollar too confident, wagering $8,201. That dollar dropped her score to $7,599. Kavanaugh, by contrast, wagered a clean $4,400, which reduced his score to $7,600 — securing his victory by just $1.

"This bar has two famous people now, the woman that started this bar was on a show called 'Real People' in the 1980s, they came here and filmed, and now we have Sam in our little town," said Carlton local Deb Winchell right after Kavanaugh was declared the victor.

Kavanaugh will now advance to the semifinals of the Invitational Tournament.

Kavanaugh is a substitute teacher living in Minneapolis who graduated from Carlton High School in 2009 and has become somewhat of a hometown hero because of his appearances on "Jeopardy!"

He first competed in 2019

and won the first five games, taking home $156,202.

He returned in 2021

and placed first in the Tournament of Champions, winning the $250,000 grand prize.

To celebrate, the Streetcar Kitchen and Pub in Carlton, which is owned by Kavanaugh's family, held a watch party as it has done since his first appearance in 2019.

The back room was at near capacity. It was about as raucous as a game of "Jeopardy!" can be, with friends, family and community members cheering and clapping every time Kavanaugh answered a question.

"This is actually my first time watching "Jeopardy!" But I gotta support the Minnesotans and the Kavanaughs," said Carlton local Rachel Gorski.

Kavanaugh grew up watching "Jeopardy!" after school with his mother. His love of the show led to a lifelong pursuit of trivia in all its forms.

At Carlton schools, Kavanaugh competed in Knowledge Bowl, an extracurricular academic competition. When he was in college, he started to compete in the college "Jeopardy!" tournaments. During that time, he continuously tried out for "Jeopardy!" before finally appearing in 2019.

Cloquet Rotary Club member Ron Hanson remembers in 2009 when Kavanaugh was a junior Rotarian and gave a speech to the club about Knowledge Bowl.

"That just carries over, Knowledge Bowl all the way to 'Jeopardy!'" Hanson said.

Part of Kavanaugh's strategy for playing "Jeopardy!" is to be particularly aggressive in the Daily Double category.

That strategy proved successful during Thursday's game. At the end of the first round, Kavanaugh was trailing both Forrest and Thieu significantly. Thieu led with $8,200, Forrest followed with $2,600 and Kavanaugh was third with just $200.

However, Kavanaugh managed to completely dominate the "Double Jeopardy!" round, bringing his score up to $12,000, where he edged out Forrest and trailed Thieu by $3,800.

It was an emotional moment at the Streetcar Kitchen and Pub when Kavanaugh was declared the winner. The announcement was met with both thunderous applause and people holding back tears.

"Everybody here had something to do with raising Sam, it takes a whole village," said Sam's father Ed Kavanaugh.