Gilberts resident big winner on Jeopardy

A category devoted to Bugs Bunny was one of Kristian Zoerhoff's strengths, but the Gilberts resident says he should have brushed up on his knowledge of classical music - the area that led to his undoing Tuesday on the Jeopardy game show.

Zoerhoff, 35, a computer engineer for IBM, walked away with $36,900 in prize-winnings for his three appearances on the show.

A longtime fan of the game show, Zoerhoff tried out unsuccessfully in college before making it through an online test and audition last year.

"I can remember watching it growing up in the early to mid-80s and I have been watching it ever since," Zoerhoff said. "I definitely enjoy the playing along aspect of the show and I also have this predilection for useless trivia, which plays very well into that."

But playing along at home cannot compare to competing in front of a live audience with lights, cameras and host Alex Trebek firing questions in the form of answers.

"It is extraordinarily nerve-racking with the studio audience and all of the cameras on you," said Zoerhoff, who was $800 behind the leader heading into Final Jeopardy. "There were a lot of nerves."

Zoerhoff wagered high in Final Jeopardy, but fell $101 short of first-place winner Regina Robbins from New York.

"At that point I knew I wasn't getting out of it, so I bet everything I had and hoped she got it wrong," Zoerhoff said Tuesday afternoon. "There wasn't much I could do at that point, so that's what I did."

Watching at home with friends and family also made Zoerhoff a little uneasy. He said watching himself on television made him cringe, especially when he answered incorrectly.

The Michigan Technical University graduate who lives in Gilberts with his wife, Kirsten, and their 1-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, said he plans to invest the winnings.

"I think we will keep it as a nest egg right now to shore up our daughter's college fund," Zoerhoff said. "We really haven't planned to do too much."