Alex Trebek stamp
A Forever Stamp is being released by the United States Postal Service in honor of late “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek.
Fox – 5 Atlanta
- Claire Sattler, a former “Jeopardy!” Teen Tournament winner, competed in the “Jeopardy!” Invitational Tournament quarterfinals.
- Sattler struggled to buzz in quickly enough against her opponents, Ben Chan and Shane Whitlock.
- Despite a late comeback attempt, Sattler ended the Double Jeopardy round with zero dollars and did not advance to Final Jeopardy.
- Although disappointed with the loss, Sattler expressed gratitude for the opportunity to compete on “Jeopardy!” for a third time and make new friends.
Claire Sattler knew she was in trouble as soon as she saw her opponents on Wednesday’s episode of “Jeopardy!” She was up against two of the show’s quickest-draws on the buzzer: Ben Chan and Shane Whitlock.
“Shane and Ben have some the fastest fingers!” Sattler says and laughs. “They really are two of the best buzzers in quizzing.”
The Bishop Verot High graduate knew a lot of the answers during her episode of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament quarterfinals, she says, but she just couldn’t buzz in on time. She was competing in the tournament for $150,000 and a spot in the game show’s upcoming Masters Tournament.
It didn’t help that those buzzers are huge. That’s why she practiced for the competition using a similarly-sized toilet paper holder — a trick she learned from 2017 “Jeopardy!” college champion Lilly Chin.
“Those buzzers are really big,” says Sattler, 23, a former Bonita Springs resident who now lives in New York City. “And I have little, tiny baby hands. And I always have a hard time getting my thumb up on the button itself.”
How Sattler did on ‘Jeopardy!’: ‘It was so overwhelming.”
By Double Jeopardy, though, Sattler knew she had to change things up. So she switched from buzzing with her thumb to buzzing with her index finger ― the same finger she used to use back in her quiz-bowl days.
“I was like, ‘I just have to get back up there,’” she says.
She started to make a comeback, but it ended up being too little, too late.
Sattler had just $800 by the end of the first Jeopardy Round. And after losing and gaining money throughout the Double Jeopardy round, she landed right back where she’d started the competition: Zero dollars. And so she didn’t make it into the Final Jeopardy round, which ended up being won by Whitlock.
Her opponents, by the end of Double Jeopardy, had racked up huge piles of money: $18,395 for Chan and $14,700 for Whitlock.
“It was so overwhelming,” she says, “because it was a really tough game.”
Expanding her circle of ‘Jeopardy!’ friends, including champ Matt Amodio
Sure, it was stressful and disappointing, she says. But she’s glad she got to play on “Jeopardy!” again — something she never thought was possible after winning $100,000 on the “Jeopardy!” Teen Tournament in 2018.
“It was so much fun,” she says. “It’s just been such an honor and a privilege.”
She’s also happy to get a chance to make more friends on the show. She’s stayed in touch with many of the players — more than five of whom have slept on her couch when visiting New York City, she says. And former champ Matt Amodio even attended her “Jeopardy!” watch party Wednesday.
“I made this group of friends as a teenager,” she says, “and I’m still very close to a lot of them. … It was really great to kind of get to expand my ‘Jeopardy!’ social circle and make friends with all these other phenomenal players.”
Despite losing the game, both Sattler and Chan won $5,000 each just for playing.
More about Claire Sattler
This was Sattler’s third time competing on the show. After winning the “Jeopardy!” Teen Tournament in 2018, she returned in 2023 for the show’s High School Reunion Tournament. She won $18,411 in the quarterfinals but didn’t advance to the finals. Still, she left the show with a $10,000 consolation prize.
Sattler graduated in May 2023 from Yale University graduate with a double major: Molecular, cellular and developmental biology and also theater, dance and performance studies. She now works as a comedian and a research scientist.
Learn more about the “Jeopardy!” Invitational Tournament at jeopardy.com/track/2025/invitational.
Read our previous coverage of Sattler competing on “Jeopardy!”:
‘Jeopardy!’ tournament: Everyone’s stumped by final clue, including SW FL’s Claire Sattler
‘Thanks, Mrs. Knox!’: Bishop Verot’s Claire Sattler gives ‘Jeopardy!’ shout-out to her teacher
Back on ‘Jeopardy!’: SW Florida champ Claire Sattler returns for High School Reunion Tournament
More: Bonita Springs teen wins ‘Jeopardy!’ Teen Tournament, takes home $100,000 prize
Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1). You can also call at 239-335-0368.
