Ohio Sports Betting
When It Comes to Spelling, You’re No. 2, Ohio

When It Comes to Spelling, You’re No. 2, Ohio

January 30, 2024 02:30pm

Fact Checked by Pat McLoone

The 95^th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is Wednesday, May 31, and only Texas has produced more winners than Ohio.

Why does Ohio have so many champion spellers? Once they master C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I, they figure they can handle any word.

The state’s remarkable record of spelling champs became apparent as BetOhio.com took a break from traditional Ohio sports betting to focus on another annual competition.

Using the list of Scripps National Spelling Bee champions, BetOhio.com – your source for Ohio sports betting apps - determined which states are home to the most champions.

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Where States Have the Most Spelling Bee Champs?

State	Number of Spelling Bee Winners
Texas	15
Ohio	9
Pennsylvania	7
Colorado	7
California	6
Tennessee	6
Kansas	5
Kentucky	4
Iowa	4
Missouri	4
Indiana	3
Oklahoma	3
New York	3
New Jersey	3
Nebraska	2
Illinois	2
Georgia	2
North Carolina	2
Alabama	2
Virginia	2
Florida	2
Maine	1
Massachusetts	1
Michigan	1
Arizona	1
Washington	1
Wisconsin	1
Minnesota	1
Louisiana	1

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History of Ohio Champs

When it is not providing first-rate Ohio sportsbook promos, BetOhio.com discovered that the Buckeye State is right up there with champion spellers.

The first Ohioan to win the Bee was Dean Lucas, from Akron, who took home the 3^rd trophy back in 1927. Lucas did away with the competition thanks to “abrogate.”

Akron’s Alma Roach won the 1933 Bee, putting a correct twist on “torsion.”

Akron schools must have focused on spelling because in 1935 the winner was the city’s Clara Mohler, whose word was “intelligible” – and accurately spelled.

In 1948, Jean Chappelear, also of Akron, made no Freudian slip when she expertly handled “psychiatry.”

The following year, 1949, Kim Calvin from Canton, found the champion word “onerous,” but not too onerous.

Ohio threepeated in 1950, when Diana Reynard, of Cleveland, tied for the crown by neatly spelling “meticulosity.”

Sandra Owen was a co-champion in 1957, thanks to her silky-smooth spelling of “schappe.”

Akron was back in the winner’s circle with William Kerek in 1964. The losers said nothing bad about him after he spelled “sycophant.”

Anamika Veeramani, of Cleveland, won in 2010, after she successfully spelled her last name. Just kidding, she won with a measured response to “stromuhr.” Veeramani is now at Harvard Medical School, so you might want to start teaching your kids to spell.

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Author

Howard Gensler

@DNTattle

Howard Gensler is a veteran journalist who’s worked at the Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide and the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a founding editor of bettorsinsider.com.

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