Huntington Park Winter 2025

Inside Aspire Pacific Academy, the steady plastic clatter of turning layers filled the air as tables were lined with timers, inspection mats, and puzzles of every scale. A gathering of 64 competitors assembled on December 6, 2025, bringing intense focus to the single-day WCA competition. Long before the final rounds began, the atmosphere hummed with focused preparation. Solvers warmed up their fingers, studied complex algorithms, and settled in for a demanding schedule that would test everything from split-second reflexes to sustained mental endurance throughout the day.

Big cubes demand a distinct kind of stamina, where keeping piece tracking crisp through hundreds of turns separates champions from the pack. At Huntington Park Winter 2025, the 5x5x5 Cube contest delivered an impressive showcase of relentless concentration across 35 competitors. Michael Muething took top honors in the single-round showdown, registering a winning average of 57.12 seconds alongside the day best single of 53.36. Shane Grogan claimed the second step on the podium with a 59.35 average, while Aaron Do secured third place by averaging 1:09.49 in the grueling event.

The 4x4x4 Cube event similarly rewarded measured control over two rounds of action featuring 47 entrants. Muething proved equally dominant on the four-layer puzzle, locking down the victory with a 31.93 winning average and delivering a sharp 27.46 single. Ethan Yeh captured the silver medal spot with a solid 33.37 average, holding off a close challenge from Grogan, who took third on the podium with a mark of 33.43 seconds. The multi-layered puzzles set an exacting standard across the floor in Huntington Park, California, USA.

Away from the top of the podiums, the competition floor was packed with breakthroughs and milestone moments across a variety of events. Oliver Summers tackled three events at the tournament, marking a first ever attempt at 2x2x2 Cube with a 5.55 single, a first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Cube with a 2:12.13, and slicing his 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 48.2 percent down to 27.67 seconds. Ethan Alexander Paz made remarkable strides in two events, lowering his 2x2x2 Cube best to 9.76 for a 65.7 percent improvement and taking his 3x3x3 personal record to 39.23 seconds. Andrea Nguyen took on five events, achieving a best finish of 7th in 3x3x3 Blindfolded, logging a first ever attempt at 5x5x5 Cube with a 1:37.29, and trimming personal bests in 2x2x2 to 2.56 and 3x3x3 to 8.70. Rigoberto Quintero delivered a strong day across four events, making a first ever attempt at 5x5x5 Cube at 2:01.41 to finish 26th while improving his 4x4x4 best to 1:27.67 and his 2x2x2 to 5.44.

Fresh debuts and significant speed cubing leaps continued throughout the brackets. Derrick Lo entered three events and delivered his first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Cube with a time of 1:52.09, while also improving his 2x2x2 Cube best to 5.92. Andre Leiva made dramatic progress across two events, dropping his 3x3x3 mark by 43.5 percent down to 13.49 seconds. Kien Ly Biggs took on four disciplines, earning a best finish of 7th in 3x3x3 Cube while cutting his 4x4x4 Cube mark to 44.62 seconds, an improvement of 35.8 percent, alongside a 2.77 in 2x2x2 and a 6.83 in 3x3x3. Joshua Rodriguez contested four events and made significant headway on the big cube, taking his 5x5x5 Cube best to 3:13.44, an improvement of 33.7 percent.

The classic Rubik's Cube brought the largest field of the day, drawing 62 competitors across three rounds of intense speedcubing. The 3x3 results culminated in another triumph for Muething, who secured the win with an average of 7.86 seconds and the fastest single of the event at 7.24. Dominic Shoji finished in second position with an 8.21 average, followed closely by Yeh in third place at 8.36. The fast-paced final highlighted the tight margins at the top of the southern California cubing community.

Shoji turned the tables in the lightning-fast 2x2x2 Cube event, navigating two rounds against 53 competitors to capture the title with an exact 2.00 winning average and a single of 1.57 seconds. Joel Kim took the runner-up spot with a 2.11 average, while Ryan Roth rounded out the podium in third place at 2.65 seconds. In the blindfolded discipline, Andrew Le demonstrated exceptional memory work over two rounds of 3x3x3 Blindfolded, taking first place with a single of 44.28 seconds. Eric Wu claimed second place with a time of 1:12.76, while Muething added to his medal haul by securing third with a 2:09.08 solve.

With 10 rounds completed across five diverse events, Huntington Park Winter 2025 concluded as a comprehensive test of puzzle-solving skill. Competitors from the United States collected 15 podium places across the board, celebrating both outright victories and individual milestones. From the extended endurance needed on the 5x5x5 grids to the rapid turns of the shorter formats, the single-day gathering offered a complete showcase of focus and precision as solvers wrapped up their efforts in 2025.

As the timers were packed away at Aspire Pacific Academy, the cubing competition left participants with fresh personal marks and new benchmarks for the next season. The balance of heavy big-cube endurance and rapid-fire sprinting ensured that Huntington Park Winter 2025 provided an engaging challenge for every entrant on the roster.