Each year more than 250 top spellers from across Colorado participate in the virtual portion of the Colorado State Spelling Bee to earn a spot on the stage for the live rounds which take place in March at the University of Denver. The top scorers compete for the title of Colorado State Spelling Bee Champion. This 86 year-old tradition, originally sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News, encourages and rewards our young people’s love of learning and competition. The winner of the Colorado State Spelling Bee moves on to represent Colorado in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
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The 86th annual Denver Post Colorado State Spelling Bee is right around the corner! The live portion of the 2026 State Bee will be held on Saturday, March 7th at Sturm Hall on the University of Denver campus. The champion of our State Bee will win an all-expense paid trip to compete in the 101st Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. from May 24-29, 2026.
Congratulations to our 2026 Denver Post Colorado State Spelling Bee Finalists:
Leo Agrawal – 6th Grade – Holy Family Catholic School
Aditi Ayyappadas – 7th Grade – North Star Academy
Jackson Barnes – 7th Grade – Frassati Catholic Academy
Samritha Bharani – 7th Grade – Prospect Ridge Academy
Jude DSilva – 6th Grade – Campus Middle School
Nikhil Ganta – 6th Grade – Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School
Sage Murray – 4th Grade – Green Gables Elementary School
Aadhya Muthukumar – 7th Grade – Hulstrom Options School
Vaughn Parrish – 8th Grade – Eagle County Charter Academy
Austin Pham – 5th Grade – Fairmount Elementary School
Vedanth Raju – 8th Grade – Aurora Quest K-8 School
Jack Shea – 7th Grade- Ridgeview Classical School
Sriman Srinivasan – 4th Grade – Red Hawk Elementary School
Sai Shreyas Sriyapu Reddy – 7th Grade – World Compass Academy
Reyansh Tandon – 6th Grade – Prospect Ridge Academy
Reese Underwood – 7th Grade – Sagewood Middle School
Audrey Vigil – 8th Grade – Sagewood Middle School
Anurag Yalavarthy – 7th Grade – Manning School Academics & Arts
These are the top scorers from the spelling and vocabulary online test and will advance to the live championship round on Saturday, March 7th. A detailed letter will be sent to these spellers early next week. Congratulations to everyone who made it to the virtual round – it was another very competitive year!
For questions, please email Carol Cline, Spelling Bee Event Director at ccline@denverpost.com.
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The 2025 Colorado State Spelling Bee champion was Vedanth Raju, the 7th grader from Aurora Quest K-8 who spelled FRETUM correctly in the 29th Round. Our 2nd Place winner was Nikhil Ganta, a 5th grader from Traut Core Knowledge in Fort Collins, and we had a tie for 3rd Place: Sai Shreyas Sriyapu Reddy, a 6th grader from World Compass Academy in Castle Rock, and Sriman Reddy, an 8th grader from Stargate School in Broomfield.
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Click here to see the past Colorado State Spelling Bee champions.
