Jacob Williamson, a 15-year-old from Cape Coral, Florida, may not have won Thursday night's Scripps National Spelling Bee, but he certainly won the hearts of viewers everywhere with his over-the-top enthusiasm.
"I know it! I know it! I totally know it!" he screamed upon hearing being given the word "kabaragoya" (a large, aquatic lizard),
USA Today reported. Tragically, he went down swinging in the 10th round, accidentally spelling the word with a "c" instead of a "k."
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When the host broke the news of the misspelling, Williamson exclaimed "What?!" and threw his arms up and down in utter frustration and disbelief as he walked off the stage.
After the show was over, reporters caught up with Williamson, who was still in enthusiastic spirits as he had been from the very beginning.
"It was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it," he said. "I thought I knew that word but I guess I didn't."
Williamson ultimately ranked seventh and, for the first time in 52 years, the first place prize was split by Sriram Hathwar, an eighth-grader from Painted Post, New York, and Ansun Sujoe, a seventh-grader from Fort Worth, Texas,
according to NPR.
"Antigropelos" and "corpsbruder" spelled trouble for the pair and disqualified them in the same round, which led to the tie.
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