Maine Native Competes on ‘Jeopardy’ Game Show

Last night Ben Hemmens, a Portland native,  participated in one of America's favorite quiz shows and is now moving on to the next round.

Ben is now a stay-at-home dad living in Falls Church, VA. with his wife Kimberly, and 3 children.

He took an online Jeopardy test in January 2014, along with 100,000 other people.   Then he was called in March of this year and was told to come on the show.

Last night Ben took on the winner of the game the night before, Phil Salathe from Rocky Point, NY, and new competitor Val Narehood who is from Tyrone, PA. All of the contestants put up a good fight with Ben finishing the regular rounds in the lead.

Going into the 'Final Jeopardy' round Ben was sitting on $16,200, Phil was right behind with $13,400 and Val was in 3rd place with $4,400. The 'Final Jeopardy' question in the 'Historic American's' category was:

The debate team at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire is named for this man who entered the Academy in 1796.

Two of the contestants, Phil and Ben, got the correct answer of Daniel Webster. Val's answer was John Adams, betting and losing all of her $4,400. Phil bet $4,599 so he finished with $17,999. Ben bet $10,601 so he took over the title with a $26,801 win.

You can catch Ben moving on to the next round of 'Jeopardy' tonight at 7:30PM on ABC