KANE'OHE — Tradition held sway yesterday as two siblings of champion spellers won the 2008 Hawai'i State Spelling Bee.

The winners will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., on May 29 and 30.

It was no big surprise to Talmage Nakamoto's family when he was named the winner; he was following in the footsteps of his older brother, Teagan, who was a district winner in 2006.

And sixth-grader Gabriel Salazar of Maui Waena Intermediate School was runner-up, following the trail blazed by his older brother, who went to the national spelling bee in 2003.

Fourteen contestants from around the state spelled their way through two grueling hours and eight rounds at Windward Community College's Paliku Theatre.

"I wasn't nervous at the beginning because I knew the harder words would come later," said Talmage, a Konawaena Middle School seventh-grader. "I don't know how I became such a good speller."

In round seven, he was the only one left standing with the correct spelling of "pugnacious," which means having a quarrelsome or belligerent nature.

Runner-up Gabriel aspires to the nationals like his brother, Nathaniel, said his father, Manuel Salazar.

Nathaniel Salazar, now a freshman at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, won the state spelling bee and then represented Hawai'i at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in 2003.

Gabriel Salazar, a sixth-grader, correctly spelled "splenetic."

"He's sad because he came to win," said his mother, Wilma Salazar. "But he's a sixth-grader. He can come again."

Gabriel misspelled "adrenaline" in round seven.

"I pictured the word wrong in my head," Gabriel said.

For months, the 155 students who participated in district spelling bees around the state pored over 874 words in this year's study guide.

Some studied five hours a day.

This year, the bee was broadcast live on OC16, which added to the excitement of the event.

The first student dropped out in the third round when Keala Lopez, a Kapa'a Middle School seventh-grader, misspelled "magnanimous." In that same round, Jose Paulo Gonzales, a Waimea Middle School seventh-grader, misspelled "rhinoceros."

In round five, four more spellers dropped out. And in the sixth round four more misspelled a word, leaving four spellers to compete in the last round, where only Talmage spelled his word correctly.

Three of the 14 spellers were returnees from last year's spelling bees: Jen Rasay, Honolulu District; Andrew Dau, Windward District; and Talmage.

"I'm really excited to even think that I could win this," Talmage said. "I want to thank my parents and my coach for helping me."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.