MITCHELL, S.D. – A 5th grade student from Challenge Center Elementary School in Sioux Falls won the 2026 South Dakota State Spelling Bee Saturday in the 19th round.
Oscar Quezada, 11, claimed the state championship and will move on to the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington in May after correctly spelling "arrearage."
For the second year, South Dakota News Watch and Dakota Wesleyan University sponsored the competition, which was held at DWU. Financial support for Black Hills area students also came from the Independent Insurance Agents of Rapid City.
Oscar was eliminated in the first round at last year's state bee when a baby cried and he lost his concentration.
"Instead of spelling 'flipperling,' I spelled 'flippering,'" he recalled Saturday. "I was like, I'm probably going to come back next year because I've gotten first place in my school bee twice in a row, last year and this year."
His advice to other spellers: "Basically, just practice. If somebody's in the spelling bee, just practice as hard as possible. It'll, it'll definitely pay off."
Pleroma Otang, 11, a 6th grader from Brandon Valley Intermedia School, took second place and Ashika Gupta, 13, an 8th grader from Dakota Valley Upper Elementary Middle School took 3rd place.
Schools that qualified students to compete at the state bee:
- Brandon: Brandon Valley Intermediate School; Robert Bennis Elementary School
- Brookings: George S. Mickelson Middle School
- Clear Lake: Deuel School
- Estelline: Estelline Junior High; Sharon F. Delzer Elementary School
- Florence Middle School
- Garretson School
- Madison Elementary School
- Milbank Middle School
- Mitchell: Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary School
- North Sioux City: Dakota Valley Upper Elementary Middle School
- Parkston Elementary School
- Piedmont Valley Elementary School
- Platte-Geddes Elementary School
- Rapid City: Saint Elizabeth Seton Central School; Saint Thomas More Middle School
- Scotland Middle Senior High School
- Sioux Falls: Challenge Center Elementary School; Cornerstone School; Good Shepherd Lutheran School
- Spearfish: Black Hills Christian Academy
- Sturgis Elementary School
- Vermillion Middle School; Vermillion Elementary School
- Waverly South Shore School
- Yankton: Sacred Heart Middle School
Do you value education? Please consider partnering with us by helping to cover the sponsorship costs at the link below to ensure the state competition continues.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact CEO Carson Walker: 605-610-9366/carson.walker@sdnewswatch.org.
