A teacher from the Hudson Valley scored the highest total while advancing in Jeopardy's "most prestigious tournament of the year."

On Friday, Francois Barcomb of New Paltz won his quarterfinal match-up for what producers say is the show’s "most competitive and prestigious event: The Tournament of Champions."

Barcomb finished with $34,300, the highest total in the quarterfinals while defeating a graduate student from Seatac, Wash and a sports industry consultant from Atlanta.

The Hendrick Hudson physics teacher's semi-final matchup will air on Wednesday. The 11th-grade physics teacher from New Paltz battles a university administer from Princeton, NJ and a physician healthcare analyst from Pittsburgh, PA.

If Barcomb wins, he will advance to the two-day finals which will air Thursday, Nov. 14 and Friday, Nov. 15.

This past May, Barcomb finished first in this year's Jeopardy! Teachers Tournament. The Hendrick Hudson physics teacher defeated an Albany history teacher and Maryland music teacher to win the $100,000 grand prize.

Barcomb reached the Teachers Tournament semi-finals after he battled two other teachers and came out victorious, finishing with $20,600. He finished with $18,801 in the semi-finals, defeating a chemistry teacher from Austin, TX and an English teacher from Stamford, CT.

In July, we learned Barcomb was invited back to participate in the show's highly-anticipated Tournament of Champions. The teacher and 14 other top competitors were in the running for $250,000 grand prize.

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