SAFFORD — It took 13 rounds, including seven head-to-head rounds, before a champion was crowned in the 2024 Graham County Spelling Bee Tuesday evening.
Pima Junior High’s Dillon Casey missed on “amnesty,” allowing Safford Middle Schooler Kason Nunley to correctly spell the word, and then correctly spell the word “pulpit” to take the title.
Nunley said he only started studying the day of the Bee and he found the experience “nerve wracking.” He added that he generally works on instinct.
“I try to sound it out in my head, and if it doesn’t sound right, or it doesn’t look right after I picture it in my head, I try something else,” Nunley said.
– David Bell Photo/Gila Valley Central
The head-to-head battle between Nunley and Casey started in the seventh round, with both misspelling the word “overweening.” However, both were perfect for the next five rounds until Casey stumbled on “amnesty,” opening the door for Nunley’s win.
It’s the second consecutive win for Safford Middle School, following Annabelle Gamez’s win in 2023.
Spellers went through 74 words in the Bee, with the second round proving especially difficult and eight spellers being knocked out.
What followed was unusual for a Graham County Spelling Bee. Instead of the knocked-out spellers joining their families in the audience until the completion of the Bee, as has been the practice for all past Bees, the spellers and their families immediately exited, despite being told by Graham County School Superintendent Donna McGaughey to avoid making noise so as not to disturb the spellers.
Nunley now moves on to the Arizona State Spelling Bee, which will take place March 16 at the Madison Center for the Arts in Phoenix. If Nunley is unable to participate, Casey will take his place and represent Graham County.
The winner of the state Bee will qualify for the 96th Scripps National Spelling Bee, Memorial Day week in May, in National Harbor, Md.
