'Repercussion' is the winning word in Holmes County Spelling Bee
MILLERSBURG – At the start of the Holmes County Spelling Bee there were 16 spellers. After four rounds of words, all but two contestants had been knocked out.
The final two spellers were Gabrielle Mullet, a fifth grader from Berlin Elementary, and Isaiah Swartzentruber, a Chestnut Ridge seventh grader.
While the two battled it out in the Thursday night spelldown, it was the word “repercussion,” that gave Swartzentruber the nod in the end, making him the winner of the bee.
Musical brothers from Holmes County: Low Gap duo riding high on release of first single
Mullet kept up with Swartzentruber until the very end, misspelling “romaine,” leaving it open for Swartzentruber to come back and take the win.
“I had two different spellings ... in my mind, but I spelled one and it was really both of them put together,” Mullet explained.
School friends, family help spellers study for competitive event
In preparation for the bee, both Mullet and Swartzentruber said they practiced spelling in the weeks leading up to the competition.
“A lot of my friends were in the school spelling bee and I would study with them and in between our spelling bee and this one, my friends would help me when we have extra time at school,” Mullet said. “... They would just read (the words) to me. And if I spell it right, then they would highlight it and we would have a system.”
While Mullet said she studied more with her friends, Swartzentruber said his family helped him prepare for the spelldown.
“I just studied a lot with my siblings, my sister and my mother with the packet we were provided with,” Swartzentruber said.
Special delivery back home: Holmes County-bound postcard now in the right hands after 78 years
Despite all the prep work, Swartzentruber said he was "kind of surprised” he took first place. He did not expect to win, he said, though he enjoyed the chance to spell each word and even got a kick out of learning new words, like “chai.”
Mullet said she enjoyed the competitive feeling of the bee and was glad the vocabulary section had been removed since very few of the spellers had prepared for that section of the bee.
'If you study enough ... you're gonna be able to make it'
Both spellers said they hope to return next year, and Mullet encouraged those who are hesitant about signing up to give it a try.
“Even though a lot of people might not say they’re good at spelling, if you study enough you’re gonna get the concept and you’re gonna be able to make it.”
Contracts Ok'd for Triway: School board approves project contracts for pre-K through 12 building
Three judges, all of whom work at the Tri-County Educational Service Center, presided over the bee: Beth Gaubatz, Tracey Bender and Mandy Tippett.
Victoria Birk, director of the Tri-County International Baccalaureate Academy at the Service Center was the pronouncer.
Up next, Ashland and Wayne counties will host their bees in the coming weeks.
This year is the 47th spelling bee for Ashland County, while Wayne County will host its 66th bee, with roughly 20 students competing in each event.
The Wayne County Spelling Bee is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 25, at Orrville High School. The Ashland County spelldown is set for held Feb. 1 at the Ashland-West Holmes Career Center. Both bees will start at 7 p.m.
Reach Rachel Karas at rkaras@gannett.com
On Twitter: @RachelKaras3
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Chestnut Ridge student wins Holmes County Spelling Bee
