Answer: This Mount Joy man recently appeared on "Jeopardy!," fulfilling a longtime dream.

Question: Who is Matt Wheeler?

Wheeler not only appeared on the show in June, but he also won, taking home $13,500.

"I've been curious about a wide variety of subjects as long as I can remember," Wheeler said. "When I was young, my mom took my brother and me to our local public library, and I often came home with tall stacks of books about states and countries, dinosaurs and planets. In more recent years, 'Jeopardy!' has featured as a key part of weekday evenings for my family, with my wife and me referring to an appointment as 'being just before Jeopardy!' or completing a task after the show."

He said about 15 years ago, he began seriously considering trying out for the show, and when the "Anytime Test" was introduced in 2020, allowing people to apply online anytime up to once a year, he took it.

"Simply, 'Jeopardy!' is my favorite show, and it's a rare cultural institution that it seems that practically everyone in the country knows. It rewards attention and curiosity - as well as quick recall," Wheeler said. "It's rightly viewed as a thinking person's game but is widely beloved. Given my affinity for trivia, I see 'Jeopardy!' as the top of the mountain for that - and the best game show out there. I've played at home so many times, I wanted to try my hand at being on the show."

He took the online test once a year until he was invited to the second audition step at the end of 2024. For that, he took another online test, one that was proctored on Zoom with the clues read aloud, before advancing to the third stage, a game play audition that involves a mock "Jeopardy!" match on Zoom, complete with two other contestants, an interview portion and a signaling device.

"Pass that and you're in the contestant pool, a call away from going to appear on the show, for up to two years," Wheeler said.

He got the call on March 19 but didn't pick up since it was a California number he didn't recognize. Thankfully, the "Jeopardy!" team member left a voicemail and sent Wheeler a text saying he wanted to review some points on Wheeler's application.

Wheeler returned the call and was invited to tape the show on April 16.

"I was surprised, ecstatic and hopeful," he said, noting that he brushed up on some of his weaker subject areas in preparation for the experience.

"I needed to shore up on Shakespeare plots and characters, opera basics and American presidential facts - and vice presidents, a surprisingly common topic," he said, adding that his strengths include geography, music, history, literature and sports. "My friend Renee Mathis, who lives in Louisiana and is a 'Jeopardy!' champion from the 2008 season, lent me the books 'Secrets of the Jeopardy! Champions' and the humorous memoir 'Prisoner of Trebekistan,' and both were genuinely helpful, for both facts and strategy. And I started the habit of watching the show while standing in back of my chair like it was a lectern and using my click-pen 'buzzer' to practice timing."

Wheeler, who is an associate registrar for Lancaster Bible College and a singer-songwriter, traveled alone to film in Culver City, leaving his wife, Charity, and son, Luke, behind in Mount Joy.

The experience of filming the show was a whirlwind, he said.

"There's a live studio audience, about 100 to 200 people. ... We got to be on the stage for rehearsal before any of the taping started, likely to help get us comfortable with being there and so our game time wouldn't be our first time in that spot," he said. "There are five episodes of 'Jeopardy!' filmed each tape day, three before lunch and two after."

He said he was excited and nervous about appearing on the show, but ultimately, he felt grateful to be there and did his best to soak in the whole experience, which, for him, included two filmed episodes.

"I won that first game in a runaway, so by the time we got to wagering for Final Jeopardy!, the fact I would win, barring an absurd wager, was dawning on me," he said.

Although he did not win his second game, he truly enjoyed the experience, and he's happy he had the chance to shout out his "Random Facts with Matt" Facebook and Instagram pages - which now have thousands of new followers - during his first interview with host Ken Jennings.

He's even happier for the interview he gave during his second show, when he talked about how he uses music to connect with Luke, who has special needs.

He's looking forward to putting his winnings to good use as well. "My wife and I have our 20th wedding anniversary coming up in April, so I plan to pay for a getaway for us with part of the winnings."