Central student falls on ‘Jeopardy!’

Central High School junior Kelton Ellis lost in the semifinals of the “Jeopardy!” Teen Tournament on Thursday in what turned out to be an historic first for the program.

Ellis led opponents Joe Vertnik, of Mound, Minn., $16,400 to $12,000, with the other player, Tori Amos, of Englewood, Ohio, in third place as the trio headed into Final Jeopardy. But all three contestants missed the final answer in the category “Capital Cities,” with all of them answering “Dublin” instead of “Belfast.”

Because all three players bet all of their money and lost, all three ended up with $0 -- the first time in any “Jeopardy!” tournament that no one has advanced to the next round, host Alex Trebek said.

As a result, the highest-money earning non-winner from either Wednesday’s or Friday’s semifinal will earn a place in the finals. Each of the students is competing for a $75,000 prize.

-- Phillip Ramati