Colt Swasey Wins Beaverhead County Spelling Bee

DILLON, Mont. — Twenty-seven students from across Beaverhead County competed in this year’s Beaverhead County Spelling Bee, held at the 4-H Building at the Beaverhead County Fairgrounds.

The competition began with the traditional opening rounds featuring simpler words before gradually increasing in difficulty. Several spellers were eliminated in the first round, and by the second round the field had been narrowed to 10 competitors.

As the spelling intensified, the competition was reduced to four spellers. The word silhouette marked the first elimination at that stage. Paparazzi, pumpernickel, and isolation were all spelled correctly, leaving three spellers remaining.

The next round featured charitable, obliterate, and influential, all of which were spelled correctly. Exaggerate eliminated one competitor, followed by a misspelling of tendencies. The word riddance then tripped up another speller.

Refinery was spelled correctly, but haphazard was missed, bringing the field back to three. Varnish was spelled correctly by two spellers, while oregano eliminated the third, leaving two finalists.

In the final rounds, baptismal and solstice were both misspelled. Ferret and folklore were spelled correctly, leading to a back-and-forth spell-off. The word forfeit caused another stumble, but pyramid was spelled correctly. The final word, felonious, was spelled correctly, crowning Colt Swasey as the 2026 Beaverhead County Spelling Bee Champion.

Rhett Baldwin finished as the runner-up.