‘It’s a great experience’: Final suburban speller eliminated in 8th round of Scripps National Spelling Bee
The last of four suburban spellers fighting for a chance to be the best in the nation was eliminated Wednesday in the eighth round of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Yahya Mohammed of Hoffman Estates made it through the seventh round after correctly spelling “osphresis.” He joined 39 other spellers whose vocabulary was tested in the eighth round.
But the 13-year-old seventh-grader at Larsen Middle School in Elgin was stumped by a question most Harry Potter fans would have aced: “What is a basilisk?”
Yahya’s answer — “an oblong building ending in a semicircular altar” — took him out of the running.
“I did not know the word at all,” said Yahya, speaking from the competition being held in Maryland.
The correct answer is: a mythological reptile with poisonous breath that can kill with a single glance — from the vivid imagination of JK Rowling, author of the popular “Harry Potter” book series.
Yahya finished in 36th place — a big improvement from his 2024 National Spelling Bee performance, when he tied for 60th.
“I was more ready this time,” Yahya said. “I feel happy and I feel like I have improved and I will come back better next year, hopefully.”
The 2026 contest will be Yahya’s last chance to compete.
But with the pressure off, for now, it’s time for some well-earned rest.
“I have not been sleeping for two months,” Yahya said. “It’s been a great contest. It’s always really fun. It's a great experience to be there.”
This year’s 243 national qualifiers — ranging in age from 8 to 14 years old — included Visharad Sathish of Grayslake, Tyler Kochanski of Fox River Grove, and Shruthi Ayyagari of Aurora, among 13 Illinois finalists.
Visharad, 12, a seventh-grader at Lake Forest Country Day School, and Tyler, 14, an eighth-grader at Saints Peter & Paul School in Cary, were eliminated in round three, which was a written test. They tied with other spellers who finished in 100th place.
Shruthi, 13, a seventh-grader at Francis Granger Middle School in Aurora, was eliminated in the fourth round after misspelling “coolth,” finishing in 89th place.
The competition continues with the finals airing live from 7 to 9 p.m. Central Time Thursday on ION TV. It can be streamed on Ion Plus or Fubo.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the iconic American competition, first held in 1925 with just nine participants, according to its website.
The last winner from the Chicago area was Balu Natarajan, of Hinsdale, in 1985 with the word “milieu.” Natarajan competed in the National Spelling Bee twice before becoming the 1985 champion.