The “J” in Medill senior Jack Izzo’s name might as well stand for “Jeopardy!” 

With two appearances on the beloved quizzical game show by age 22, Jack Izzo has achieved what Bob’s Pizza trivia fans only have nightmares of: answering semi-obscure questions under glaring stage lights with thousands of dollars on the line.

“I made so many friends the first time and was super hyped that I got the chance to do it again,” said Jack Izzo, who first appeared in the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament in 2018 as a high school senior. “The best part of it was being able to go back and see everybody.”

Dozens crowded the first floor of Norris University Center on Tuesday afternoon to watch Jack Izzo face off against Stanford University senior Avi Gupta and University of Texas at Austin senior Alison Purcell in the High School Reunion Tournament quarterfinals.

Jack Izzo himself was in the Norris crowd — the San Diego native recorded the episode in January, and since then, has fended off friends and acquaintances who’ve begged him to spoil the results, he said. 

“It’s been really funny going through this entire experience a second time because a lot of the things the people asked me the first time, they’ve been asking me the second time,” Jack Izzo said.

His appearance in the Teen Tournament concluded with $10,000 in the semifinals round. Since then, Izzo’s trivia practice has come through his efforts on Northwestern’s Quizbowl team and LearnedLeague, an online, invitation-only global quiz league. 

He also occasionally shows up to dominate Tuesday Trivia at Bob’s Pizza.

At NU, Jack Izzo considers himself a multi-hyphenate: He’s double majoring in journalism and psychology with minors in data science and Italian. Outside the classroom, he solves Rubik’s Cubes, watches YouTube essays and is a DJ on two shows for WNUR, NU’s flagship student radio station.

“I’m like ‘I know that guy,’” Weinberg senior Gretchen Faliszek, who’s been friends with Jack Izzo since their freshman year, said. “I tell people my friend is on ‘Jeopardy!’ and they’re like ‘what?’”  

Jack Izzo said he was surprised to be invited back to “Jeopardy!” to film the reunion. To his knowledge, reunion episodes are very rare, so he never expected the invite. 

In preparation for the contest, Jack Izzo studied multiple topics but focused especially on religion, literature and classical music.

“I’ve studied trivia before, so I already have a lot of knowledge,” he said.  “It was just bringing it back to the surface.”

During the first round of Tuesday’s episode, Jack Izzo led the trio, scoring points on questions about political science, music and etymology. 

Jack Izzo’s favorite question from the episode appeared in the first round. The question, filed under the College Towns category, asked about a town located near New York’s Cayuga Lake. Gupta answered the question incorrectly with “Syracuse” before Jack Izzo followed up with the correct “Ithaca,” ultimately netting $1,000 for his answer. 

“My family is from upstate New York, and I know I made them really happy by getting that,” Jack Izzo said. 

He concluded the round with a total of $11,200, higher than Purcell and Gupta’s $4,800 and $1,000, respectively. 

Jack Izzo’s mom, Christine Izzo, said she was proud of her son for his ability to present himself with class while performing well under pressure throughout the competition. 

“He’s always enjoyed and always had a knack for absorbing the factoids and pieces of trivia about all kinds of different things — be it geography, music, sports, pop culture — from a very young age,” Christine Izzo said. 

McCormick senior Beni Keown, also a “Jeopardy!” alum, supported Jack Izzo in the Norris crowd. He first met Jack Izzo while on a housing tour during Purple Preview, NU’s admitted students’ day. Though Keown hadn’t yet appeared on Jeopardy at the time, he joined NU QuizBowl with Jack Izzo soon after.

Since then, Jack Izzo and Keown have played with and against each other in trivia competitions around campus.

“It’s normally hard for me to watch this show because I get too stressed out, but you get to root for your friend,” Keown said. “It helps to be on the same team.”

During the Double Jeopardy! round of the episode, Jack Izzo’s lead narrowed, with Purcell netting points on pop culture and Gupta catching up with a Daily Double answer. Jack Izzo led with $19,200. Gupta followed with $16,800, and Purcell was third with $10,600. 

However, a question on world leaders switched up the rankings. 

By the final standings, Gupta ended with $21,300, Jack Izzo with $4,799 and Purcell with $1 — in addition to the $5,000 all contestants receive.

“Regardless of where he ended up at the very final round, he did himself proud,” Christine Izzo said. 

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @WhoIsAlexPerry

Related Stories:

— Q&A: NU senior Yejun Kim participates in Jeopardy! National College Championship Quarterfinal

— Northwestern freshman advances to semifinals of “Jeopardy!” College Championship, guaranteed wildcard spot

— Rapid Recap: Jeopardy National College Championship, Quarterfinal 4