Wisconsin students Nethraa Muthupandiyaraja and Aiden Wijeyakulasuriya, both 13, are moving on to the Scripps National Spelling quarterfinals Wednesday after qualifying in Tuesday s preliminary rounds.
"It s less of speller versus speller and rather individual speller versus the dictionary," said Aiden Wijeyakulasuriya, one of two spellers representing Wisconsin at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
After preliminary rounds earlier this week, 11 teenaged finalists are gathering Thursday night in a convention center ballroom outside Washington to demonstrate their mastery.