Troy sixth-grader spells way around competition

Morrison Elementary School sixth-grader Moxley Roesler-Begalke won the Lincoln County spelling bee Feb. 19 at Eureka High School.

Roesler-Begalke bested a field that included elementary and middle school students. The word wiz won the competition when he accurately spelled “complacency,” beating runner-up Kaitlyn Downey, an eighth-grader at Troy Junior High, in the seventh round.

Roesler-Begalke will now compete in the Treasure State Spelling Bee on March 22. Winning may take a Herculean effort, but Roesler-Begalke already spelled that word correctly in the county bee.

“It’s a thrill when you spell a word right,” Roseler-Begalke said. “The school gave me a sheet and I went over about 450 words with my parents for three weeks, maybe a month. There were about 100 words I did not know.”

A fan of the Percy Jackson & Olympians book series, Roesler-Begalke said he is “very nervous” for his trip to Billings. He knows the competition will be stiff, but is excited about the experience.

Moxley is the son of Mark and Mellonie Roesler-Begalke.