14-year-old Austin Pineda of Perris was the only Southland youngster to reach the finals.
He was eliminated after putting an extra "l" in "tralatitious". It came down to 13-year-old Sameer Mishra.
On his fourth trip to the finals, he had to spell a word meaning "something that one has earned, or gained."
Sameer won $35,000 in cash from Scripps plus $5,000 in other prizes.
The new champion says wants to be a neurosurgeon some day.
