Back and forth, round after round, Jessica Madlangsakay and Christopher Ferreria put on a spelling display Wednesday as an attentive crowd cheered them on.

Jessica hit "igneous." Christopher nailed "chalupa."

Jessica dispatched "sukiyaki." Christopher countered with "archipelago."

But in the 20th round, Jessica tripped on "garcon," while Christopher quickly drilled "narcissistic."

And when Christopher nailed "kohlrabi" to win Wednesday's Area 4 spelling bee at Blackstock School in Oxnard, his mother leaped from her seat with joy.

"He really wanted it, so bad," said Nancy Ferreria, still shaking. "He's such a wonderful kid."

The win earns the sixth-grader from Mary Law Private Elementary School a seat at the county finals March 10 at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo. The countywide winner goes to the 81st annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29-30 in Washington, D.C. Scripps is the parent company of the Ventura County Star.

"I first attended a spelling bee in the second grade, and I have been hooked ever since," said Christopher, 12, a straight-A student and member of a local Tae Kali Do martial arts team traveling to July's world championships in the Philippines.

Last year, Christopher finished second to Jessica, an eighth-grader at Blackstock. He vowed to do better this year, his mother said. Jessica went on to finish in the top five in last year's countywide bee.

"He really deserved this," she said, offering Christopher a congratulatory hug after the competition.

Finishing second was not in her plans, but she was happy to share the spotlight. "I am not that disappointed. He earned it," she said. "Besides, now I don't have to study anymore. That's the good part."

A dozen students from the Ocean View and Hueneme school districts and local private schools participated in Wednesday's bee, which had been postponed from Feb. 12 after a fatal shooting that day at E.O Green School in Oxnard.

This year, more than 160 local schools participated in the bee program, which is sponsored by The Star, County Schools Federal Credit Union and county Office of Education. The school winners participated in 10 area competitions, and Wednesday's was the last of those.

Nona Palmer of Ocean View Junior High School in Oxnard stayed with the final pair for 10 rounds before slipping on "insidious." After that, Christopher and Jessica went head-to-head for 10 more rounds in front of about 150 people, mostly cheering students.

The day's tough-break award went to Juan Moncada of Sunkist School in Port Hueneme. Instructed to spell "canine," Juan asked several questions to make sure he understood the word. He then leaned into the microphone and spelled "K-9" — a common term for police dogs — and was eliminated.