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Who is West Henrietta native Dave Bond?
The US Navy vet who works as a freelance researcher easily topped New Jersey business support analyst Lisa DiLeo and two-time returning champion Stevie Ruiz, a Montauk resident who claimed nearly $36,000 during a short-lived run this week on the beloved quiz show.
Bond got off to a quick start and never slowed down, though he trailed the defending champion when they went into the first break, after which he mused about the curious way he proposed to his now-wife.
"So ... I proposed in a bunny suit, which is not habitual behavior, but I rented one for a children's church event and was trying it on, and by wife-to-be put on bunny ears she made herself and I knew that was the moment," he mused. "So I got down on one bent bunny knee ... And that was that."
Bond led the three tri-state contestants at the end of the first round, but turned a small lead to the Long Island champion and New Jersey native into an overwhelming win in the second round.
After faltering on a Daily Double question when he bet it all, Bond quickly blitzed his competition and came storming back to give himself an insurmountable lead, buoyed by a bold bet that put him over the top.
Bond and Ruiz battled back and forth in the beginning of the second round - after DiLeo missed a Daily Double question about enterainment and games - but Bond took his shot and nailed it when he turned a $600 deficit into a massive lead he refused to give back.
Bond was able to correctly answer "Where is Ho Chi Mihn City" referencing a clue about the fall of South Vietnam, to bolster his lead to $14,800 - a lead he would not relinquish.
None of the three were able to correctly answer the Final Jeopardy! question, though Bond's victory was already secured and he coasted his way to a $25,000 windfall after betting just $200 on the final clue.
Bond finished with a tidy $25,000 total, easily topping Ruiz's $7,201 and DiLeo, who failed to even answer the question.
The new champion will continue on into Friday's contest against North Carolina graduate student Zach DeBoer and Historian Erin Adams, from Tennessee.
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