Lake Hiawatha's Amar Kakirde is back-to-back 'Jeopardy!' champ. Aims for three-peat Friday

A Morris County man has won "Jeopardy!" on back-to-back nights.

Amar Kakirde, of Lake Hiawatha, won Thursday night's episode of "Jeopardy!" to bring his two-day total to $24,599, after netting $16,600 on Wednesday's show.

Kakirde won Thursday after missing the Final Jeopardy! question, but only lost $1,201 of his $9,200. The second-place contestant with $5,200 answered the question correctly and could have been champion, but did not wager any money.

The recent graduate of the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs told his alma mater after Wednesday's win: "It was just a crazy and surreal experience."

Kakirde told Yale that he first tried out for the show and auditioned two years before finally hearing back during this busy school year. He and some classmates gathered for a watch party on campus for Wednesday's episode.

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Kakirde will return for Friday night's episode against two new contestants.