The son of a veteran Connecticut attorney became part of television history recently when he appeared on the game show “Jeopardy!” and came within striking distance of defeating famed current champion and winning-streak holder James Holzhauer.

Nathan “Nate” Scheffey, son of Bolton attorney Tom Scheffey, competed on the May 23 episode, scoring an impressive $25,800 in the game. Though the total was not enough to knock Holzhauer off his pedestal (the champ had $31,200 for the day) it marked the second-closest anyone has come to dethroning Holzhauer, who has made national headlines with a 30-game winning streak worth more than $2.3 million.

“It was amazing,” said Scheffey, 37, who grew up in Bolton and now lives in New York City. “I started taking the online test in the fall last year and I got a call to audition in September. I got the callback about four weeks head of time to play in March.”

Since recordings of “Jeopardy!” run weeks ahead of the TV schedule and associated news cycle, Scheffey said he arrived at the show's studio unaware of Holzhauer's now-famous streak. “They film five episodes a day, and there were three games filmed before mine, so that was helpful,” he said. By that time, Scheffey learned insiders were predicting Holzhauer's winnings that day would push his total winnings to more than $2 million. The game would mark Holzhauer's 26th appearance.

Scheffey learned about the champion's aggressive betting strategy while awaiting his turn in the game show's green room and decided an offensive tack would be the only way to have a chance to win. “I decided this was my shot and I was going to take it,” he said.

Scheffey's performance was strong enough to put him ahead of Holzhauer early in the game. “The only regret I had was with the Daily Doubles,” he said. “At the beginning of Double Jeopardy I got the first Daily Double, and I had $13,000 while James had $6,000. It was a pretty good lead, and I wagered $6,000. James probably would have wagered more than that.” The category was science, and Scheffey gave the correct answer.

In the end, Scheffey became the second-most threatening challenger to Holzhauer, missing first place by $5,400. In nail-biter last month, Holzhauer nearly lost his title to Adam Levine of Ashland, Massachusetts, who came up just $18 short.

For Tom Scheffey, who is a member of the Connecticut Law Tribune's editorial board, it was “a marvel” to watch his son compete on the show. “It was scary to have Alex [Trebek, the host] go through all of the facts in the beginning. James had an intimidating record.” Scheffey called his son's performance “real grace under pressure.”

Nate Scheffey said it was his father's intelligence, support and natural curiosity that led him to be a lifelong learner and someone who would take a shot at testing his knowledge on “Jeopardy!”

After the episode aired last Thursday, Holzhauer Tweeted to Scheffey, “Way to bring it, @nscheffey. Don't let the Friday Morning Quarterbacks get you down.”