INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An eighth-grader at Center for Inquiry School 84 on Friday won the annual Indianapolis Public School District Spelling Bee for the second year in a row.

Nerves filled the auditorium at Arsenal Tech High School as students clinched their hands and tapped their feet waiting to spell. Over 35 students in grades 4-8 participated in the bee, covering 30 Indianapolis school districts.

Carrie Cline Black, IPS spokesperson, said, “You know, spelling bees have been around for about 100 years and over the course of their long history they have really helped students develop a love for spelling and for vocabulary as well as developing skills in public speaking and really developing their poise.”

Back-to-back winner Owen Norwalk, an eighth-grader, won by correctly spelling “dishevel.”

Norwalk last year went to Washington, D.C., for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He was the first national qualifier from IPS in at least 20 years, the district said.

On Friday, he won a Surface Pro Tablet and a chance to travel to the nation’s capital again.

Elliot Hunt, an eighth-grader at Rousseau McClellan Montessori School 91, places second in the contest. Cole Weidenbach, an eighth-grader at Center for Inquiry School 2, received third place.

Black said, “We’re very proud of the students today. You know, we know they have worked hard and that they have been studying and practicing and today is really an opportunity for them to shine and showcase their high academic achievements.”

The top 15 spellers from the IPS spelling bee will advance to the Marion County Regional Spelling Bee on March 14 at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis. The top spellers in that contest will go to the national bee.