Students and parents in the audience cheer for fifth-grader Cass Spinosa as he’s declared the winner of the 2025 Love Creek Elementary spelling bee after 27 rounds. ELLEN MCINTYRE PHOTOS
Cass Spinosa smiles with his Love Creek spelling bee trophy after winning the competition for the second consecutive year.
Love Creek spelling bee’s 12 competitors smile after the event. Shown in back are (l-r) Reeve Allmon, Daniel Kuhfahl, Carter Arvey, Gordon Deptula, Cass Spinosa, Lily Seifrit and Muhammad Khan. In front are Deacon Odenwelder, Kendall Sager, Gabrielle Getz, Ellie Tanikawa-Brown and Juliana Lagonigro.
Fifth-grader Ellie Tanikawa-Brown awaits her word to spell.
Cass Spinosa reacts to spelling a word correctly as competitor Muhammad Khan approaches the microphone for his turn.
Fifth-grader Juliana Lagonigro, who placed third, awaits for her word to spell.
Fourth-grader Carter Arvey takes his turn to spell.
Cass Spinosa reacts to his spelling bee win.
Cass Spinosa looks out at the audience during his one of his turns to spell.
The final two competitors, Muhammad Khan, left, and Cass Spinosa, battled back and forth for a whopping 17 rounds.
Students and parents in the audience cheer for fifth-grader Cass Spinosa as he’s declared the winner of the 2025 Love Creek Elementary spelling bee after 27 rounds. ELLEN MCINTYRE PHOTOS
Cass Spinosa smiles with his Love Creek spelling bee trophy after winning the competition for the second consecutive year.
Love Creek spelling bee’s 12 competitors smile after the event. Shown in back are (l-r) Reeve Allmon, Daniel Kuhfahl, Carter Arvey, Gordon Deptula, Cass Spinosa, Lily Seifrit and Muhammad Khan. In front are Deacon Odenwelder, Kendall Sager, Gabrielle Getz, Ellie Tanikawa-Brown and Juliana Lagonigro.
Fifth-grader Ellie Tanikawa-Brown awaits her word to spell.
Cass Spinosa reacts to spelling a word correctly as competitor Muhammad Khan approaches the microphone for his turn.
Fifth-grader Juliana Lagonigro, who placed third, awaits for her word to spell.
Fourth-grader Carter Arvey takes his turn to spell.
Cass Spinosa reacts to his spelling bee win.
Cass Spinosa looks out at the audience during his one of his turns to spell.
The final two competitors, Muhammad Khan, left, and Cass Spinosa, battled back and forth for a whopping 17 rounds.
After a grueling 27-round showdown, fifth-grader Cass Spinosa clinched the title of Love Creek Elementary spelling bee champion Jan. 22. It was the second consecutive year Cass won, allowing him to compete in an online regional qualifier.
The nearly hour-long bee was the longest that fifth-grade teacher and bee pronouncer Bridgette Perrotta has ever seen. She had to send a faculty member to retrieve her laptop during the 25th round to access the next list of words after going through all the ones in front of her.
“I apologize,” Perrotta said to the audience as she waited. “It’s never gone this far.”
Although the bee started with 12 spellers, the last 17 rounds were a back-and-forth battle between Spinosa and fifth-grader Muhammad Khan.
Cass misspelled “meddlesome” in the 12th round in what he and the crowd thought was a fatal mistake, but Muhammad’s consequent misspelling saved him.
The same thing happened several times more.
Finally, in the 27th round, Cass corrected runner-up Khan’s misspelling of neutralize before correctly spelling dignified – which he remained, as he tried to offer Muhammad a hug of consolation – to take the crown as students and parents in the audience erupted into applause.
“I just took my knowledge from last year, applied it here [and] tried to get myself not to be anxious,” Cass said. “Credits to my mom and my dad, who taught me to read and taught me things from a very young age.”
The top 40 qualifiers from the online regional qualifier will move on to the 2025 Scripps Regional Spelling Bee, which will take place Saturday, March 8, at the Delaware Tech Dover campus. The regional winner will progress to the national competition in Washington, D.C., in May.
The other Love Creek Spelling Bee competitors, along with their grade, included third-place finisher Juliana Lagonigro (fifth), Deacon Odenwelder (fourth), Ellie Tanikawa-Brown (fifth), Kendall Sager (fourth), Reeve Allmon (fifth), Gabrielle Getz (fourth), Daniel Kuhfahl (fifth), Carter Arvey (fourth), Gordon Deptula (fourth) and Lily Seifrit (fifth).
Students and parents in the audience cheer for fifth-grader Cass Spinosa as he’s declared the winner of the 2025 Love Creek Elementary spelling bee after 27 rounds. ELLEN MCINTYRE PHOTOS
Cass Spinosa smiles with his Love Creek spelling bee trophy after winning the competition for the second consecutive year.
Love Creek spelling bee’s 12 competitors smile after the event. Shown in back are (l-r) Reeve Allmon, Daniel Kuhfahl, Carter Arvey, Gordon Deptula, Cass Spinosa, Lily Seifrit and Muhammad Khan. In front are Deacon Odenwelder, Kendall Sager, Gabrielle Getz, Ellie Tanikawa-Brown and Juliana Lagonigro.
Fifth-grader Ellie Tanikawa-Brown awaits her word to spell.
Cass Spinosa reacts to spelling a word correctly as competitor Muhammad Khan approaches the microphone for his turn.
Fifth-grader Juliana Lagonigro, who placed third, awaits for her word to spell.
Fourth-grader Carter Arvey takes his turn to spell.
Cass Spinosa reacts to his spelling bee win.
Cass Spinosa looks out at the audience during his one of his turns to spell.
The final two competitors, Muhammad Khan, left, and Cass Spinosa, battled back and forth for a whopping 17 rounds.Event Details :
Premier Listing
Sponsored Content
Premier Listing
Sponsored Content
Real Estate Marketplace
Sponsored Content
In the Market
Sponsored Content
