Photos: 2026 Badger State Spelling Bee
Wisconsin's top grade school and middle school spellers vie for a chance to represent the state in the Scripp's National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. during competition at the Mitby Theater in Madison Saturday.
Badger State Spelling Bee participants take their seats at the start of the event Saturday the Mitby Theater on Madison College's Truax campus.
Badger State Spelling Bee participants Caiden Rea, left, Kaiden Beach, center, and Anton Olson wait their turn to spell. It took more than three hours to crown a champion on Saturday. Photo by John Hart, Wisconsin State Journal
2026 Badger State Spelling Bee participant Michael Vanselow, a seventh grader at Ashland Middle School, reacts while attempting to spell a word during the competition.
2026 Badger State Spelling Bee pronouncer Brad Williams delivers a word to a participant in the bee at the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Badger State Spelling Bee participant Ava Winters, an eight grader at De Pere Middle School, visualizes a word on her hand.
Participants in the 2026 Badger State Spelling Bee compete on the stage of the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A participant in the 2026 Badger State Spelling Bee drops their number tag into a bin after misspelling a word during the competition at the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Saish Kanchireddy, a seventh-grader at Marshfield Middle School, waits his turn to spell during the 2026 Badger State Spelling Bee at the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
The top two spellers in the 2026 Badger State Spelling Bee, runner-up Arnav Vempati, left, an eighth grader at Kromrey Elementary School in Middleton, and champion Ethan Robert, an eighth grader at Eisenhower Middle School in New Berlin, share the stage of the Mitby Theater Saturday after the Badger State Spelling Bee. They will represent Wisconsin in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in May.
2026 Badger State Spelling Bee participant Rosalie Benke, a fifth-grader at River Crest Elementary School in Hudson, Wis., right, passes the time prior the bee by playing cards with her aunt, Kim Benke and her cousins, Baylor and Bennett Behnke outside the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Ava Winters, right, joins her father, Andrew, and sister, Addie, in tailgate lunch before her participation in the 2026 Badger State Spelling Bee at the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. The eight-grader at West DePere Middle School was also happened to be in town for a dance competition and had to juggle her scheduling of the two events as a result. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Members of the Madison College Performing Arts group perform songs from the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” during a tailgate party prior to the 2026 Badger State Spelling Bee at the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Signatures of participants in the 2026 Badger State Spelling Bee are added to a Wisconsin State Journal listing of the spellers prior to the event at the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
2026 Badger State Spelling Bee participant Mary McEldowney has her picture taken prior to taking part in the event at the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
2026 Badger State Spelling Bee participant Alex Lammers of Elkhart Lake Middle School unwinds before competing in the event while twirling a baton with family members outside the Mitby Theater in Madison, Wis. Saturday, March 21, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
2026 Badger State Spelling Bee runner-up Arnav Vempati reacts after correctly spelling a word in the 19th round of the event at the Mitby Theater in Madison.
2026 Badger State Spelling Bee champion Ethan Robert holds his trophy after winning the event at the Mitby Theater in Madison. He and second place finisher Arnav Vempati will be representing Wisconsin in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. in May.
Ethan Robert of Rice Lake Middle School and Arnav Vempati of Kromrey Elementary School in Middleton advanced to the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 26-28.
