Former Cape resident will appear Monday on 'Jeopardy!'

Next week, Kent Buxton, formerly of Cape Girardeau, will make his debut as a contestant on the television game show “Jeopardy!”

His first, but maybe not his last, episode will air Monday.

The outcome of each show is kept under wraps, so no one but the contestants and those involved with the show know the winner of an episode before it airs.

Buxton is a 2005 graduate of Notre Dame Regional High School, where he was active in scholar-bowl competitions that fostered his desire to appear on “Jeopardy!”

This was not Buxton’s first attempt at making it on the show.

“I tried out for the college tournament in 2008 and got an audition in Chicago but did not make it on the show,” Buxton said.

When he was eligible only for the adult edition, Buxton held off entering again.

“I figured it better to wait until I was older, since many competitors have a lot more life experiences and exposures that could help on the show,” he said.

Buxton attended and graduated from Truman State University. He taught high-school science for two years and worked as an emergency room scribe before moving on to medical school. He is a medical student at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. At this point in his life, he determined he was ready to try again.

To be considered for “Jeopardy!” Buxton took an online test.

“I knew I did well enough to get an audition, but you never know how many people did well enough compared to the number of spots available,” Buxton said.

He was selected for a regional competition in Kansas City in June. He had to skip class and arrange make-up assignments to attend, but he was able to walk from school to the audition.

Buxton said his experience on the set in Los Angeles was thrilling.

“All of the competitors, I believe there were 12 of us, played mini-practice rounds to get used to the buzzers,” Buxton said. “Jeopardy!” officials chose contestants at random to determine who would play against the returning champion. Buxton was among those chosen.

“I had three minutes to adjust to that reality,” Buxton said. His heart raced through the Jeopardy round and settled by the time Double Jeopardy began.

“I cannot say how how the game turned out, but I had a ton of fun,” Buxton said.

“Jeopardy!” is in its 32nd season in syndication, with 25 million viewers tuning in each week. Hosted by Alex Trebek, contestants participate in three rounds of trivia where the contestants give their responses in the form of a question. At the end of each show, the winner is named, and that person returns in the next episode to defend his or her title as returning champion.

Locally, “Jeopardy!” airs at 3 p.m. on WPSD-TV, channel 6.

bbrown@semissourian.com

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