Cass County had 27 students from seven different schools participating in the Annual Spelling Bee on Friday afternoon. Chinmay Gopi and Luna Gasevic, both from Ben Franklin Middle School, were the top two finishers and will now advance to the State Spelling Bee held in Bismarck at the Bismarck Event Center on March 20, 2023. Chinmay Gopi, an eighth grader, finished in first place and Luna Gasevic, a seventh grader, took second after a head-to-head spell-off. Mia Heinrich, a sixth grader at Ben Franklin Middle School, finished in third place. 

The Cass County Spelling Bee started with a written session to determine who will square off in the final spell-off. The top twelve scores from the written test advanced to the final session to determine the top two finishers to represent Cass County in the statewide contest.

Nearly 100 students from across the state will be competing for the state title. The champion will represent North Dakota at the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland in May.