HILO, Hawai'i — Konawaena Middle School seventh-grader Talmage Nakamoto correctly spelled "jeremiad" to win the Hawai'i Island District Spelling Bee for the second consecutive year, and now advances to the state finals in Honolulu.

Nakamoto and runner-up Jose Paulo Gonzales of Waimea Middle School advance to The Advertiser's 23rd annual Hawai'i State Spelling Bee on March 16.

Nakamoto drew the word in the 10th round of Saturday's spelling bee at Kealakehe Intermediate School.

Jeremiad is a literary work or speech expressing a bitter lament or righteous prophecy of doom.

Nakamoto is the son of Shan and Traci Nakamoto, and comes from a family of talented spelling bee competitors. His older brother Teagan Nakamoto won the district bee in 2005 and 2006, and Talmage won the island's district competition last year.

Gonzales, a seventh-grader at Waimea Middle School, is the son of Michael and Josie Gonzales.

The state bee will be televised on OC16.

The state winner will receive an expenses-paid trip in May to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Here are the other district qualifiers for the state bee: