Dave Wiegand: Oregon Man Wins National Scrabble Competition

DAYTON, Ohio — An Oregon man is $10,000 richer after winning the 2009 National Scrabble Championship in Ohio.

Dave Wiegand of Portland, Ore., took first place Wednesday with 25 wins and six losses in the 31-game competition. It was the second time the 35-year-old mortgage underwriter has claimed the national title.

Forty-two-year-old Nigel Richards of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, finished second. Sixty-three-year-old Joel Wapnick of Montreal, Canada, placed third.

The National Scrabble Association said the final match featured words such as acini, which is a saclike part of a gland, and wawl, meaning to cry like a cat.

Nearly 500 players from 40 states and several countries competed for five days in Dayton. Competitors ranged in age from 10 to 92.