As fortified as tungsten steel, Hawai'i speller stays in running

	See video of Matthew Won spelling "tungsten" last night
	See video of Matthew Won spelling "repechage" Tuesday
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By Susan Roth
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Matthew Won carefully made his way yesterday into the championship round of the 74th annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.

Matthew Won got "tungsten" and "mercantilist" right. Gannett News Service

The 14-year-old Iolani School eighth-grader was more worried about Round 3, but appeared equally serene as he methodically spelled "mercantilist," an adjective referring to the theory or practice of mercantilism, the strict governmental regulation of a national economy.

"I think that was a pretty easy word for him," said his father, Reed Won. "Luck plays a role."

The contestant's father, a planner at the Honolulu shipyard, said he was more surprised that the boy knew the word "tungsten," because "I don't remember going over that word with him."

"I got pretty lucky," Matthew said afterward. "It seemed that they changed the difficulty of the words when they saw that people were not making mistakes."

He said he remembered the word "tungsten" from his science class.

Tuesday evening, in Round 1, Matthew correctly spelled "repechage," a French-derived word meaning a second chance in a trial heat such as an Olympic track event.

At the end of Round 3 yesterday, 87 of the 248 original competitors remained. The bee continues through today, with final rounds on ESPN.

"This is what every parent and kid wants," Reed Won said. "The fourth round is the championship round, and you get the white (spelling bee logo) shirt. He wants to go all the way, but he knows what he's up against."

Aside from his father, Matthew's mother, Angie Won, and sister Rachel, 11, and his coach, English teacher Jane Romjue from Iolani School, also watched in the audience at a downtown Washington hotel.

Matthew's trip to the national bee was sponsored by The Honolulu Advertiser.