Spelling Bee winner throws up ‘X’ in celebration, gets Dez Bryant shoutout

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Nihar Janga and Jairam Hathwar are the 2016 Scripps Spelling Bee co-champions, and after years of studying paid off big for Janga his first thought was to pay tribute to his favorite athlete, Dez Bryant by using his famous “X” celebration, while also leaving Hathwar hanging on two separate high five attempts.

Nihar threw up the X. It's lit. #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/R1CMgnUaq2
— Shahbaz Khan (@ShahbazMKhan) May 27, 2016

Luckily for Janga, the Cowboys wide receiver was tuning in to this year’s event and liked what he saw, tweeting out that he hoped to meet Nihar and bring him out to a game some day.

#NiharJanga you just made my whole day buddy.. Congrats on winning the #spellingbee champ.. Some how some way I have to get you to a game #x
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) May 27, 2016

One of last year’s co-champions, Gokul Venkatachalam, professed his fandom for LeBron James during the tournament by wearing the Cavaliers star’s jersey under his shirt, a move which prompted James to send the champ a pair of signed shoes.

– Brendan Maloy