Jairam Hathwar, speller 153, misspelled "riegel" to get out. He's the brother of Sriram Hathwar, who was co-champion last year.
"Well, I was very excited and happy that I even made it to the semifinals" Jairam said after he was eliminated. "I'll study harder and hopefully next time, I'll do better."
Sriram said he's happy that his brother made it.
"So very proud of him, I know he did his best," he said.
Srinath Mahankali, speller 159, is the brother of 2013 champion Arvind Mahankali. He correctly spelled "sphenogram" to stay in -- though at first, he kept pronouncing "sphenoform," which is not a word.
"I keep forgetting," he said.