YOUNGSTOWN — It certainly didn’t take Joey Constantine an entire decade to correctly spell “aughts” — in fact, it took him less than 10 seconds.

“It feels good; I’m very happy about it. It’s kind of surreal to be winning this again,” Joey, a Lakeview High School eighth-grader, said.

The teen was describing how he felt for having come up with the correct spelling for “aughts,” which refers to the 10-year period between 2000 and 2009. The rather obscure word, after which he had correctly spelled “brouhaha,” also was good for a first-place finish in Saturday’s 91st annual WFMJ-TV 21 Regional Spelling Bee at Stambaugh Auditorium.

Joey took home the top prize after having been among the 76 school spelling bee champions in grades three through eight from Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The students represented local and regional public, private, charter and parochial schools.

The three-hour challenge had four rounds, each of which contained increasingly difficult words to spell.

For his first-place finish in the competition, Kent State University at Trumbull will award Joey a $2,000 scholarship. In addition, he will be representing the Mahoning Valley at the 97th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee during Memorial Day weekend in Washington, D.C.

“I’d love to win, but I’m not expecting it myself,” a stoic Joey said about appearing in the national bee in late May. “I’ll just do my best.”

Finishing in second and third place were Ben Balog, a Hubbard Middle School eighth-grader, and Joshua Theis, a Jackson-Milton Middle School seventh-grade student. Also, KSU at Trumbull will award Ben and Joshua $1,000 and $500 scholarships, respectively, for their placings.

All three top finishers also took home trophies.

Competing in spelling bees is anything but new for Joey, who appeared in his first such events in third and fourth grade. He also has been in the WFMJ bee the last three consecutive years.

“It just feels crazy. I did not think I could do this again,” he said.

One of the main parts in the formula for Joey’s success Saturday was bringing to the event a photographic memory, which he developed early and has allowed him to see many esoteric words in print once, then remember their spelling and usage. Another helpful aspect has been his mother, Kathy Constantine, who acted as his study and spelling coach, said Joey, who listed French as his favorite school subject.

Quite happy to have made it into the bee’s third round was Sofia Davey, a seventh-grader at Joseph Badger Middle School in Kinsman.

“I got past the first round and met my goal of being in the top 20, so I’m happy where I am,” Sofia said while holding a certificate she had been awarded.

A love of reading, especially chapter books, has fused into sharp spelling proficiency for Sofia, who recalled having been her fourth-grade champion by correctly spelling “opposite.”

“She’s very studious and takes her schoolwork very seriously. She’s a straight-A student and always has been,” Sofia’s mother, Theresa Davey, said.

Also accompanying and cheering on his daughter was Sofia’s father, John Davey.

In addition, Saturday’s spelling bee was an educational opportunity for the students to not only learn the words’ correct spellings, but to grasp their definitions, origins, parts of speech and how to properly use them in sentences.

Jeff Tyus, professor and graduate program director in Youngstown State University’s Department of Communications, served as pronouncer.

The three-judge panel was made up of the Rev. Lewis W. Macklin II, pastor of Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Youngstown; Saedah Hadi, a Youngstown Rayen Early College English teacher; and Carol Ryan, a former office manager with St. Christine Parish.