PHOTO BY LENA ROBSON
Mitchell Robson takes the stage during the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
MARBLEHEAD — Mitchell Robson made it all the way to the final round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee and finished seventh.
Robson, 14, first went head-to-head with 45 finalists Thursday afternoon. By night, he was one of 10 children to face off for the trophy at the Maryland-based Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.
Robson, an eighth-grader from Marblehead who attends St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, qualified for the bee when he won the 31st Annual Daily Item Regional Spelling Bee following a tie-breaker that lasted 115 rounds. His winning word was pharmaceutics.
Robson spelled the words piqueur, formatore, nagelfluh, and pentecostys in the first round of the Scripps finals, securing his seat in the second.
As the final round began to heat up, Robson spelled esquisse correctly, but was stumped by Wehrmacht, the name for the German unified armed forces from 1935 to 1946.
Before leaving the stage, he thanked his grandmother.
Competitors Nihar Saireddy Janga and Jairam Jagadeesh Hathwar were declared co-champions after 25 championship rounds.
Other finalists included Cooper Komatsu, Snehaa Ganesh Kumar, Rutvik M. Gandhasri, Sylvie Lamontagne, Sreeniketh A. Vogoti, Jashun Paluru, and Smrithi Upadhyayula. All were between the ages of 11 and 14.
The competition was the third for Robson. He has competed in the bee in 2014 and 2015.
Robson has a special interest in science. He plays basketball, flag football, and is a Boy Scout and avid mathlete, a person who competes in mathematics competitions. While studying, he listens to Eminem, Lil Wayne and Drake.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.