WALLA WALLA — I’ll take Walla Walla “Jeopardy!” champions for $800, Ken.
Walla Walla Episcopal priest and four-day “Jeopardy!” champion David Sibley returns to the show’s stage Tuesday, Feb. 27, to compete in the popular Tournament of Champions.
The Tournament of Champions is an annual event that brings back the biggest winners from the past season to face off in a multi-week tournament.
Sibley’s four wins in 2022 qualified him for the tournament.
Sibley was very limited in what he could tell the Union-Bulletin ahead of the airing of his first appearance in the tournament. He did say he was excited just to have qualified for the competition.
“It was a real delight to get to return to the Alex Trebek stage,’” Sibley said. “When I first took the ‘Jeopardy!’ Anytime Test online several years ago, and then eventually received an invitation to play in 2022, never in a million years would I have imagined that my journey would end up with an invitation to return and play against some of the best players who have ever been on that stage.”
Though the filming of the episodes already has occurred, Sibley is barred from giving spoilers. He did say the experience was enjoyable.
“I tried to have fun, to be myself, to be a bit goofy, and just enjoy the experience,” he said. “In getting to meet and spend time with other contestants, I know they feel the same way, too. There are some really amazing games in this Tournament of Champions, so I hope folks will tune in, not just to my quarterfinal, but throughout the tournament — there will be some top-level gameplay going on, and people won’t want to miss it.”
Also taking the stage in the tournament will be Cris Pannullo, a 21-day “Jeopardy!” champion from Ocean City, New Jersey, who is the very player who ended Sibley’s streak.
Pannullo will be competing in his first game Monday, Feb. 26.
This year’s tournament has 27 past champions competing.
In a normal season, the tournament would include all five-game champions, and enough four-game winners to fill up the bracket. This year, however, is not a normal year.
The tournament got delayed because some of last season’s champions said they would boycott the competition if it occurred during the Writers Guild of America’s strike, which included “Jeopardy!” writers. The strike ended Sept. 27.
This delayed the new season from beginning. During the strike, the show hosted several “Wild Card Tournaments,” featuring recent champions that did not win enough games to automatically qualify for the Tournament of Champions.
These games were played with recycled questions from past episodes.
The winners of each of the tournaments have been included in this year’s Tournament of Champions.
Sibley’s Tuesday night quarterfinal match will see him facing off against eight-game champion Hannah Wilson from Chicago, and Yungsheng Wang, a wild card winner from Lafayette, Louisiana.
Sibley isn’t the only recent “Jeopardy!” winner from Walla Walla.
Whitman College Professor Johanna Stoberock won one game in 2023. She competed in one of the wild card tournaments on Jan. 25, but came in third place in her game.
