Wheelersburg student makes it to national spelling competition

WHEELERSBURG, OH (WOWK) — Something’s creating a buzz in the city of Wheelersburg, Ohio and it’s not the bumblebees. However, “bee” is in the name.

Wheelersburg Middle School Student Ryan Frazee recently won the regional spelling bee competition at Ohio University which means he qualifies to compete against other spellers nationwide.

There are a little more than 200 other students in the National Scripps Spelling Competition. Among those are spellers who also won their regional competitions and Ryan says knowing this makes him a little “nervous.”

However, Ryan has been known to make impressive strides in just a short time.

“I did the school spelling bee last year and I got to the regional and lost,” Ryan says referring to his first spelling competitions in 2023.

Even after taking the “L”, he says he wasn’t quitting just yet.

“I did the school spelling bee again because why not? I won that one, so I went to the regionals. I didn’t expect to go really far, but somehow I won,” Ryan says.

While winning the competitions are nice, Ryan says this isn’t about being the best speller, it has more to do with educating himself on words and their meanings.

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