Tennessee man spells “keratomileusis” to win AARP senior spelling bee in Cheyenne, Wyo.

AARP’s senior spelling title goes to Tennessee man

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A 56-year-old Tennessee man has won the AARP’s national spelling bee, correctly spelling “keratomileusis” to take the title.

Scott Firebaugh’s win came after more than nine hours and nearly 70 rounds of spelling on Saturday in Cheyenne, Wyo. The AARP says Firebaugh, of Knoxville, bested 48 other competitors older than 50.

The runner-up was 53-year-old Robert Moy of New York. Third place went to David Riddle, a 57-year-old from Pacific Grove, Calif., who won the spelling bee in 2005.

Last year, Firebaugh was the runner up. And the year before that, he came in third having tripped up on the word “wampumpeag,” a string of polished beads or shells.

His winning word this year, “keratomileusis,” is a noun that means surgery to correct the cornea.

The AARP bee started in 1996.