Spinning the Wheel of Fortune

By Sarah Hansell, Staff Writer -- hansell14@up.edu

Last Saturday, four UP students were not only contestants on Wheel of Fortune, solving puzzles, but were also given the chance to win a minimum of $1,000, or more if they solved the puzzles before their competitors.

Wheel of Fortune does not allow the winners and the amount of money each contestant won to be disclosed because they want viewers to tune in when the shows are aired on May 14-18.

Every year Wheel of Fortune goes to a different city for its annual College Week, and this year the show's producers chose Portland.

"We've been to virtually every city in America," Sajak said. "So this was one of the ones we hadn't been to. We're very happy to be here."

The show featured four UP contestants - seniors Caleb Pentecost and Danielle Bibbs, junior Jasmine Dudley and sophomore Ben Mesches - along with 11 contestants from other Oregon and Washington universities.

Pentecost said the only thing he was nervous about was calling out the wrong thing, like a letter that had already been called.

"I came into this knowing at the very least I'd have enough rent for the next month," Pentecost said. "From there it's surprisingly easy to be confident."

However, some of the puzzles tripped up the contestants. Pentecost solved one puzzle right before all the letters were out.

"I had no freaking idea," Pentecost said. "I think it was the last letter I figured it out."

Some contestants, like Mesches, played a very close game.

"I was standing up there secretly hoping that (my competitors) were going to land on bankrupt and stuff," Mesches said.

Bibbs was excited to meet Pat Sajak, whom she had watched on TV since she was a little girl.

"It's kind of breathtaking when he just walks up to you and he just acts like he's nobody special," Bibbs said.

Dudley's family plans on having a viewing party at a local restaurant with her friends and family when the show airs.

"It was really, really cool to have the opportunity to be on TV," Dudley said.

The UP contestants first auditioned in September in Buckley Center Auditorium and were notified last month they made it through to the second round of auditions.

They found out that they made it on the show over spring break.

The contestants started their day at the Oregon Convention Center at 9 a.m. for introductions, training and makeup.

While the contestants were getting a strategy lesson, Wheel of Fortune Co-Host Vanna White pulled up in a golf cart and said a quick hello.

"Basically all of us were flabbergasted," Pentecost said. "I was too nervous to get her phone number, but I should have."

White says she especially enjoys co-hosting College Week because of the energy of college students.

"It is fun, it's energetic," she said. "All the kids are so happy and fun and energized."

During training, the contestants learned how to spin the wheel and were reminded to make logical guesses and to always smile. The UP contestants competed against contestants from schools such as University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Portland State University.

The tapings started at 3:30 p.m., and the contestants did not leave until around 10 p.m.

"Right as soon as I was about to get on I was super nervous," Dudley said. "There were so many people there."

Before the beginning of the shows, the announcer led the crowd in applause and cheering with the help of the University of Oregon Cheerleading Team.

"When I got up there I was pumped, I was excited," Bibbs said. "I just wanted to play the game, (and) I was excited to meet Pat Sajak."

The camera crew pre-recorded the crowd chanting and applauding and the University of Oregon Pep Band interjected songs before the shows and during breaks.

"You just kind of forget that everyone else is out there," Pentecost said. "Once the money is flowing, you get pretty excited."

Wheel of Fortune films a week's worth of shows each day, so five shows were filmed on Saturday and each UP contestant was in a different show.

"I was nervous once I got up there, but the nerves went away after the first toss-up," Mesches said, referring to the first puzzle.

When the shows air, the contestants will be able to see themselves on national television.

"I'm just afraid that I'm going to look at it and be like, that's so obvious," Mesches said. "(That) people around me are will be like, how did you not get that?"