BRUNSWICK — An eighth grader from Washington County returned for a second crack at the Maine State Spelling Bee on Saturday and booked a ticket to the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. He’s also headed somewhere else special: his school’s spring dance.

“It feels really awesome, especially since I made the biggest bet on winning,” winner Tristan Singh said following the competition. “There’s a spring dance coming up at my school next week, and I said I would only (go) if I won.”

Singh, a student at Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School in Machias, beat out 13 other spellers from all over the state at Bowdoin College and took the final prize with the word “stratosphere.” Each student had won bees at the school and county level to win a spot at the state competition.

The bee, which was presented by the Maine Trust for Local News, went on for 18 rounds. It came down to Singh and Grace Morris, a sixth grader from Turner Elementary School, representing Androscoggin County.

Spectators were biting their nails as Morris and Singh went back and forth spelling words for six rounds.

At round 14, Singh misspelled “cognizant,” giving Morris the chance to win. Then, Morris misspelled “millennial” — sending the final two into more rounds until a misspelling of “philosophize” ultimately took Morris out of contention.

The heated competition was all in good fun as spellers high-fived each other on stage and celebrated each others’ wins.

“We ended up chatting a lot, (and) cheering each other on,” said sixth grader Harmony Hoyt, the speller from Aroostook County.

And families in the audience were waiting with congratulatory hugs no matter their students’ place in the standings.

“(We’re) so proud of him. He’s worked really hard; he’s done a lot of hours of studying,” said Elizabeth Singh, Tristan’s mom.

Three members of a spelling bee family and the president of Thomas College made up the judging team. For each word, students could ask the judges for its definition, origin, part of speech and to use it in a sentence.

Lily Jordan, of San Francisco, returned to her home state to judge this year’s bee after winning it twice as a middle schooler. Her dad, Glenn Jordan, a retired Press Herald sports writer, and her mom, Nancy Jordan, the lead content developer at National Geographic Learning, were also at the judges’ table. Meanwhile, their dog, Webster — like the dictionary — took a nap under the table.

“It almost feels like being a kid again, and feeling the nervousness of the moment, but it’s a lot of fun,” Lily Jordan said.

Jeannine Uzzi, the president of Thomas College, served as the word pronouncer Saturday, a role she’s been coming back to for more than 15 years.

“It’s a great way to reinforce academics in the state,” Uzzi said.

A bee afficionado, Singh plans on competing in the Maine State Civics Bee at Colby College in June — that is, after he appears at the nation’s largest spelling competition.