By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Cole Wilson became the top speller in Chilton County’s countywide spelling bee on Feb. 10.

The bee featured eight winners from local schools.

Wilson, an eighth-grade student from Thorsby High School, said this was his first year to compete at the county level.

In the championship round, Wilson correctly spelled dugong and animosity for the win.

“I studied some right before I left and I tried not to get nervous,” Wilson said.

He did not expect to win at the county level.

“I thought I would have gotten nervous and accidentally misspelled something,” Wilson said

Kyle Tillery, an eighth-grade student at Maplesville High School, was the runner-up.

The bee opened with the word shampoo, and words became more difficult as the rounds progressed.

Some words that gave participants trouble included: icicle, mosque, futon, muumuu (a traditional Hawaiian dress) and saxophone.

Dr. Cynthia Stewart, principal of Chilton County High School, served as the pronouncer, giving each student their word. Students could ask for a definition, to hear the word in a sentence and for the word to be repeated.

The county level spelling bee had been rescheduled to sooner than initially planned. The state level spelling bee will be held in Birmingham on March 11.