He went. He spelled. He made it to the big time.

But four rounds into the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, North Idaho celebrity speller Joseph Moran is out of the competition.

"I was not any more nervous than I usually am on stage," the Inland Northwest Christian Homeschool seventh-grader said Thursday. "I was very happy to finally achieve my goal."

Joseph, of Hayden, was the first North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee winner to make it to the national bee finals. On Wednesday, he correctly spelled "Ottowa" and "cirrocumulus" on stage. His written test score — 31 out of 36 points — propelled him into the finals.

On Thursday morning, Joseph missed the word "cyclamen" in Round Four, where he was competing with nine other spellers from across the country. A cyclamen is a perennial flower.

"He had achieved his goal of making it to the finals, so he was content with that accomplishment without too much pressure," his mother, Sally, said.

Joseph is the only North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee champ to win three years in a row.

And he’s not done: Joseph said he planned to try again next year as an eighth-grader, the last year he’s eligible to compete.

The regional spelling bee is sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Press and hosted by North Idaho College.