Ridgewood Man Makes the ‘Jeopardy!’ All-Star Games Cut

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Let the games begin: six teams of elite JEOPARDY! contestants are set to face off in the JEOPARDY! All-Star Games, presented by Consumer Cellular. Starting Wednesday, February 20, fans will have the chance to see their favorite players join forces and play JEOPARDY! like it’s never been played before: in teams.

The 18 elite contestants returning for the JEOPARDY! All-Star Games are among the winningest and most popular players in recent JEOPARDY! history. Six teams are composed of three players each, with one designated Team Captain. The Team Captains are some of the most notable names to ever play the game: Colby Burnett, Buzzy Cohen, Julia Collins, Ken Jennings, Austin Rogers, and Brad Rutter. The teams are as follows:

Team Colby: Colby Burnett,  Pam Mueller, and Alan Lin    

Team Buzzy: Buzzy Cohen, Alex Jacob, and Jennifer Giles

Team Julia: Julia Collins, Ben Ingram, and Seth Wilson

Team Ken: Ken Jennings, Matt Jackson, and Monica Thieu

Team Austin: Austin Rogers, Roger Craig, and Leonard Cooper

Team Brad: Brad Rutter, Larissa Kelly, and David Madden

Among the contestants is Dave Madden , born June 13, 1981, Madden is a Ridgewood resident , academic competition organizer, and art historian. He is a former 19-day champion on Jeopardy!, which had been the second longest streak in Jeopardy history. (As of 2019, it now ranks third.) Madden is also the founder and executive director of the National History Bee and Bowl, the International History Bee and Bowl, the United States Geography Olympiad, the US Academic Bee and Bowl, the National Science Bee, the National Humanities Bee, the International History Olympiad, and the International Geography Bee.

Madden a graduate of Ridgewood High School and Princeton University graduating as a Woodrow Wilson School major in 2003. He went on to attend the Free University of Berlin, receiving a Master’s Degree in international relations.  During his time at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, he competed on his school’s Quiz Bowl team, and attended the National Academic Championship, where he was later named to the Hall of Fame, being one of only 19 people named to it in its 25-year history.

Madden led his Ridgewood team to consecutive titles at the Eighth & Ninth Annual Omar Q Beckins Academic Challenge Tournaments, an offshoot of the Westchester Academic Challenge of Knowledge Organization, in 1998 and 1999. He was Omar MVP in 1999, after placing second to Sahir Islam of Somers High School. (Sahir was the 1998 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament Champion). David was inducted into the Omar Q. Beckins Hall of Fame in 1999 (one of only 19 in the twenty-year history of OMAR).