Four Northwestern students got some financial aid Saturday from an unusual source – Pat Sajak.

The venerable host helped dole out more than $58,000 to the students in a taping of the college edition of Wheel of Fortune at Navy Pier.

But no matter how much they won — and one student walked away with more than $20,000 — the money was of secondary importance.

“All I wanted to do is spin the wheel,” said Matt DeFour, a Medill sophomore and Daily staffer. “There’s all these old people, hundreds of thousands (who) write letters and say, ‘Can I spin the wheel?’ It’s an American icon.”

Defour won $7,000 — or about 1,400 Chipotle burritos. But that small fortune was a pittance compared to Julie Benner’s $25,100 grand total.

Benner, a Speech senior, had to come back from some early mistakes to win big.

“I tried to buy a vowel when I had no money and I asked for a letter that was already on the board,” she said. “Then I said, ‘You gotta get yourself in the game, you gotta focus.”

Benner and Jennifer Hilde, an Education junior and Willard Residential College resident assistant, were the only Wildcats who made it to the championship round.

Neither won — but Hilde did get close to Sajak and Vanna White, a claim not every student could make.

“Pat and Vanna, oh my goodness, I got to eat pizza with them,” she said. “Up close, they look really different, like their makeup is painted on.”

Louis Provost, a Weinberg junior who came away with $3,200, said he was kept a good distance away from White, the show’s famous letter-turner.

“I think at the last college week, one of the students tried to lay a kiss on Vanna, so now I think they try to keep the college-age boys away from her,” he said.

The episodes will air the week of May 13 through the 17.

Show executives are even putting Hilde on television and Internet commercials for the show the week it airs.

Executives also gave Defour some sage advice — go old school and buy vowels.

“There are times when I was like, ‘Are they just telling me this so I give them back money?’ But it helps the puzzle,” Defour said.

Hey, it’s not like he was trying to reinvent the wheel.