Westview Spelling Bee Wiz at Nationals This Week

Westview Middle School's Ian Bongalonta will be stepping to the microphone this week in Washington, D.C., for 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

More than 275 students from across the country gathered this week for the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Round one of the preliminaries involved a test, followed by 

A week of events for the more than 275 finalists began Sunday and continue through the week. Round one of the preliminaries began Tuesday morning. The next two rounds will appear live on ESPN3.com on Wednesday, beginning at 8 a.m.

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Bongalonta finished 8th in good enough for a shot at the regional bee in March.

The local student  with "suggestible."

"The irony is I spelled all those words correctly, but I can't think of a word to describe this," he told The Post and Courier.

The semifinals air Thursday morning on ESPN2 beginning at 10 a.m., with the championship live Thursday night a 8 p.m. on ESPN.