YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Jackson-Milton Middle School eighth-grader Ryan Staton’s performance at The Vindicator 83rd Regional Spelling Bee was a palmary example of word knowledge.

Ryan was crowned Grand Champion at Saturday’s event in the Chestnut Room of Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center. He correctly spelled “palmary” which is “worthy of praise of notice,” according to the spelling guide.

To secure his win though, Ryan also had to correctly spell “renitency” which is “the quality or state of being persistently opposed.”

He did.

It was Ryan’s second Bee performance. Last year, he earned third place.

The second place finisher was Nina C. Dill, a sixth-grader at Montessori School-Mahoning Valley, was the bee's runner-up. She misspelled "divagate" in the fifth-round. Ryan then correctly spelled "palmary" and an extra word  "renitency" for the win.

Third place went to Devesh Mohapatra, a third-grader at Akiva Academy. He misspelled "unobtrusively."

More information about the 83rd Regional Spelling Bee can be found at our print partner The Vindicator.