Cincinnati Open 2025

Inside the halls of the University of Cincinnati, stacks of timers and inspection mats lined the tables as 120 competitors gathered for a packed day of solving. With five official events squeezed into 13 rounds on August 9, 2025, every station stayed busy from morning to evening. Finding a seat in the later stages required navigating deep qualifying brackets across every format, making advancement a test of consistency under constant pressure.

The 2025 edition of Cincinnati Open 2025 brought immense depth to the tables in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, where large start lists meant even the opening heats felt like finals. In the signature Rubik's Cube event alone, 117 participants stepped up to the timers across three rounds of play. Reaching the final stage demanded composure as the margin for error vanished with each passing cutoff.

Luke Garrett proved equal to the challenge in the main event, claiming the 3x3x3 Cube title with a winning average of 5.49 seconds, highlighted by the best single of the entire bracket at 4.40. Garrett finished well clear of Curtis Chai, who posted a runner-up mark of 7.36, while Ethan Zhuang rounded out the podium in third with an 8.45 average. The 3x3 results capped a demanding three-round contest where speed cubing consistency separated the medalists from the rest of the 117-person field.

Garrett was not finished there, adding a second gold medal in Clock. Out of 74 competitors spanning two rounds, Garrett secured the victory with a 4.07 average and a 3.37 single. Ethan Zhuang followed in second place with a 4.32 average, while Xavier Ye locked down the third spot on the podium at 4.62, reinforcing how tightly contested the top brackets were at this WCA competition.

Away from the top of the podium, several competitors delivered massive personal breakthroughs across their schedules. Logan Atkinson entered five events and trimmed an enormous 73.1 percent off his Skewb personal best with a 5.53 single, while also improving his Pyraminx best to 5.81 and logging a first career Clock attempt at 24.58. Jacob Dobson also tackled five events, slicing 71.3 percent from his Clock mark to hit 28.67, taking 37.1 percent off his 3x3x3 best with a 15.34, and recording a first Skewb attempt of 10.07. David Bowling registered first attempts in Clock at 59.22 and Skewb at 14.41 while taking 45.9 percent off his 2x2x2 best to hit 4.50, and Saharsh Tiyyala posted a 43.5 percent Skewb improvement to 7.40 alongside first official marks in 2x2x2 and Clock.

The progress continued across the scorecards as Philip Edaili notched a 42.7 percent drop in 2x2x2 to reach 8.90 while trying Pyraminx and Skewb for the first time. Paxis Brodeur entered four events, earned a 28th-place finish in 3x3x3, improved his Pyraminx best by 37.4 percent to 8.27, and set his first official marks in 2x2x2 and Skewb. Jax Pounders cut 37.3 percent off his 2x2x2 mark down to 3.59 around first-time attempts in Pyraminx and Skewb, while Benjamin Bush lowered his 2x2x2 best by 56.7 percent to 2.34, took 16th overall in that bracket, and made his first Clock run in 11.28 seconds.

The undercard brackets also delivered intense competition. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Sujan Feist navigated four demanding rounds among 111 competitors to seize first place with a blistering 1.12 winning average and a 0.70 best single. Curtis Chai took second place with a 1.27 average, edging Garrett who finished third at 1.33.

Curtis Chai rebounded to take top honors in Skewb, pacing an 83-competitor field across two rounds with a 3.60 average and a 2.68 single. Xavier Ye collected second with a 4.07 average, and Carson Clark placed third with a 4.37. Clark found gold later in the Pyraminx, leading 100 solvers across two rounds with a 1.84 average and a 1.27 single, holding off Harsha Paladugu at 1.91 and Elliott Perkins at 1.94.

Across five events and 13 rounds, the Cincinnati Open 2025 tested every level of speedcubing skill from the opening heats to the final solves. With all 15 podium positions claimed by United States competitors, the single-day cubing competition showcased both veteran precision and emerging depth on the campus stages.