At the National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, it came down to two Texans.
The winner: Karthik Nemmani, 14, an eighth-grader from the Dallas suburb of McKinney and a first-timer at the competition.
His opening came in Round 17 when Naysa Modi, 12, a seventh-grader from the neighboring suburb of Frisco, misplaced an s in “Bewusstseinslage” (defined as “a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components”).
Nemmani correctly spelled “haecceitas” (“the status of being an individual or a particular nature”) and sealed the deal with “koinonia” (“the Christian fellowship or body of believers”).
As champion of the 93-year-old competition, he will receive more than $42,000 in cash and prizes.
It was Modi’s fourth trip to the national bee; she finished seventh last year. She beat Nemmani at their county spelling bee this year, but he got into nationals as a wild card.
The last Bay Area speller was eliminated in Round 9, the first evening round. Anisha Rao, 12, a seventh-grader from Fallon Middle School in Dublin, drew the word “pavillon.” She spelled it “pavillant,” bringing an end to her three days of triumph at the Maryland event.
The two remaining Californian contestants — Paul Hamrick of Monterey and Aisha Randhawa of Corona — were knocked out two rounds later.
The 16 who entered the prime-time portion, televised on ESPN, were those who made it through eight previous rounds, including a written test. The event started Tuesday with 515 spellers, ages 8 to 15.
In three of the past four Scripps National Spelling Bees, a tie was declared for the championship after the last two competitors exhausted all the words. To reduce the chances of that happening this year, the 16 finalists advancing to the evening’s competition took a written tiebreaker test of 12 spelling and 12 vocabulary questions. It would have been used to declare a champion if the competition had exceeded 25 rounds with fewer than four spellers.
The final two spellers, Naysa Modi, 12, from Frisco, Texas, left, and Karthik Nemmani, 14, from McKinney, Texas, wait to spell their words during the evening finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Karthik Nemmani poses with the championship trophy and E.W. Scripps Company CEO Adam Symson . (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Naysa Modi, 12, from Frisco, Texas, types her word in the air during the evening finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Abhijay Kodali, 11, of Flower Mound, Texas, tied for third, lasting until Round 16. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Naysa Modi, 12, from Frisco, Texas, covers her face as her video profile is aired during the evening finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. From left are the final six spellers: Jashun Paluru, 13, from West Lafayette, Ind.; Navneeth Murali, 12, from Edison, N.J.; Sravanth Malla, 14, from Haverstraw, N.Y.; Modi; Karthik Nemmani, 14, from McKinney, Texas; and Abhijay Kodali, 11, from Flower Mound, Texas. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Anisha Rao, 12, from Dublin, Calif., spells her word incorrectly during Round 9 of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
After misspelling a word in Round 9, Rohan Raja, 12, from Irving, Texas, is greeted by other eliminated competitors watching from the stage, Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Anisha Rao, 12, from Dublin, Calif., left, and Nidhi Vadlamudi, 12, from Santa Clara, Calif., yawn and stretch during a break at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Paul Hamrick, 14, from Monterey, Calif., left, and Rishik Gandhasri, 12, from San Jose, Calif., stretch during a break in competition during the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Amith Vasantha of San Jose, California, during round four of the 91st Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center May 31, 2018 in National Harbor, Maryland. . (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The 16 spellers who have advanced to the evening rounds pose for a group picture after Round 8 of the 91st Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center May 31, 2018 in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Paul Hamrick, 14, from Monterey, Calif., pauses as he spells a word correctly during the final round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Paul Hamrick, 14, from Monterey, Calif., spells his word correctly during the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Enya Hubers, 12, from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and Aisha Randhawa, 12, from Corona, Calif., high five after making it into the evening finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Snehal Choudhury, 13, from Massillon, Ohio, right, reacts after spelling her word correctly during competition in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)