Q: Who is John Krizel?

After four consecutive days of victories, Baldwin native John Krizel was defeated on the fifth day by a black hole.

That was the answer — more specifically, the question — John missed during Final Jeopardy on his fifth and final appearance on the popular TV quiz show. But even though he was defeated, Krizel came away with a once-in-a-lifetime experience — and more than $107,000 in winnings.

"The experience of going to L.A. and taping it was so much fun," said Krizel, 24, a 2004 graduate of Oceanside High School who has a master's degree in public policy and lives in Washington, D.C., where he works for the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Watching the show later with his friends, he added, was one of the strangest things he had ever done. "It was much more stressful to watch myself on TV," he said.

Krizel's "Jeopardy" experience began in January 2008, when he went online, to the show's website, and took a test to become a contestant. He did well enough to be invited to a local audition in Washington, D.C., where he lives. The audition involved a written test as well as a mock show, on which candidates practice answering questions with a buzzer and prepare profiles of themselves.

The best potential contestants are kept on a contestant list for 18 months. In February 2009, Krizel got a called inviting him to come to Los Angeles and be a contestant on the show. His family — his father, John; his mother, Lorraine; and his sister, Lauren-came to Los Angeles to cheer him on.

"'Jeopardy' is such a familiar thing for everybody," said Krizel's father, who retired from his position as an OHS social studies teacher in 2008, after 37 years in the district. "But when you think about it, how many people do you know that have been on 'Jeopardy'? I never knew anyone who was on it. And then to go there to California and see your own son on it, it was pretty neat. It was surreal."

Four episodes were taped each day, and on Krizel's first day on the set, he sat out the first three games until he was selected to compete in the fourth. Sitting around waiting to compete was nerve-racking, as was the first game, he recounted.

"There's a way you have to buzz in, and I was getting really anxious every time I buzzed in and didn't get it," he said, explaining that contestants have to wait until the show's longtime host, Alex Trebek, finishes reading the question before they buzz in. If they buzz in too soon, they are penalized with a quarter-second delay when they try again — a delay that could cost them an answer. "So there's a lot of timing and a lot of reflexes involved," said Krizel. "Unrealistically, I expected every time I buzzed in to be the first person to do it. But that wasn't always the case, and it was a little frustrating."

And John wasn't the only one who was nervous during the first game. "I was a wreck the whole time," said his father. "I was moving around in the seat; I was bending over. My daughter at one point said to my wife, 'I think Dad's having a heart attack or something.' Because when you watch your children in things, you get into it."

After winning his first game, Krizel and his family spent a few days between tapings seeing the sights of Los Angeles. A few days later, he was back in the studio to tape four more episodes. And he kept accumulating wins — and winnings. By the time he was defeated — in the last episode of the second day of taping — he had won just over $107,000. "It was pretty good for a few hours work," he said.

Krizel attributes his success not only to his wide-ranging knowledge — in the weeks leading up to his appearances, his friends e-mailed and texted him trivia questions — but also to luck — being able to buzz in first, and knowing the questions to the answers in many of the categories that were selected.

"I say this in all honesty: Any of the people I competed against could have easily won," he said. "The differences in knowledge among all the different contestants are not as great as it might seem on television. There were some really, really good people on it."

Since the show's taping in March, Krizel has gone back to his normal life. He still hasn't received his winnings — he'll have to wait until November for that, much to the chagrin of some of his friends. "All the people who are asking me to buy them drinks are going to have to wait," he said.

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