Orono Open 2025

Thirty-four competitors gathered at the Black Bear Inn on March 22, 2025, turning the venue floor into a concentrated theater of puzzle solving across 10 rounds of competition. The hall buzzed with focused energy as tables filled with timers and tournament mats for Orono Open 2025. Solvers traveled to Orono, Maine, USA to test their discipline across six distinct disciplines, establishing an intense pace from the very first morning scrambles in the collegiate town.

The 3x3 results delivered a dramatic conclusion to the premier Rubik's Cube category as Graeme Stone rose to the top of the 32-competitor bracket. Across three rounds of testing, Stone locked down the victory with a 7.61 winning average and delivered the fastest single of the discipline at 6.08 seconds. Aidan McKenzie secured the runner-up position with an 8.14 average, while Charles Amarello completed the podium in third place at 8.63 seconds.

Aedan Bryant mounted an exceptional performance across the schedule, capturing four separate titles during Orono Open 2025. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Bryant took the win with a 1.77 final average and a 1.52 single, holding off Derek White who recorded a 2.96 average and Aidan McKenzie who finished third with 3.03. Bryant maintained control throughout the event, having also notched a blistering 1.40 single and a 1.72 average earlier in the rounds.

Bryant extended his dominance into the specialty brackets throughout the afternoon. In Clock, Bryant collected gold with a 5.44 average and a 4.47 single, ahead of Luke Chestnutt at 8.99 and Aidan McKenzie at 10.25. The Pyraminx bracket saw Bryant prevail with a 3.64 average over Andrew Lofgren at 4.35 and Chestnutt at 5.09. Rounding out his four-title sweep, Bryant earned top honors in Square-1 with a 9.53 average and 5.33 single, outpacing Derek White at 13.25 and Chandler Pike at 14.09.

Aidan McKenzie claimed his own title of the weekend in the Megaminx division, navigating the twelve-sided puzzle to post a winning average of 37.77 alongside the round's best single of 31.63 seconds. Bryant claimed second on the Megaminx podium with a 49.50 average, followed by Derek White in third place with 1:00.99, rounding out a productive slate of top-tier finishes for the podium regular.

Beyond the championship battles, several solvers posted dramatic personal improvements away from the podium spotlight. Daniel Turgeon slashed his personal best in the 2x2x2 Cube to 2.99 seconds, an improvement of 50.7 percent over his previous mark of 6.06, while also taking on his first ever attempt at Square-1 with a 42.97 clocking. Matt Newman cut his 2x2x2 Cube single by 75.4 percent down to 12.39 seconds. Eldon Conry tackled his first ever attempt at Megaminx to place seventh in 1:43.31 and trimmed his 3x3x3 mark to 16.78. Elias Porter logged a 3x3x3 best of 9.40 seconds while recording debut competition efforts in both Megaminx at 2:48.45 and Square-1 at 27.58.

The progress continued across the broader field at this WCA competition. Jake Fecteau registered his first ever attempt at Pyraminx in 12.39 seconds and dropped his 3x3x3 personal best by 31.6 percent to 13.62. Samuel Pike completed six separate events, dropping his 2x2x2 single by 51.4 percent to 1.71 seconds and his Clock single to 12.33. Silas Hodsdon improved his 2x2x2 mark by 50.2 percent down to 2.04 seconds, while Liam Williams made his first attempt at Pyraminx with an 11.51 single and cut his 3x3x3 record to 30.55 seconds.

Julian Kim, founder and developer of Speedcubing.app, completed a demanding program across all six events on the schedule without reaching a podium. Kim achieved three personal best singles during the weekend, securing fifth place in Clock with an 11.49 average and an 8.04 personal best, fifth place in Square-1 with a 23.33 average and a 20.32 personal best, and seventh in Pyraminx with a 7.17 average and a 3.33 personal best single. He also registered a sixth-place finish in Megaminx averaging 1:30.23, a fourteenth-place finish in 3x3x3 averaging 15.10, and fourteenth in 2x2x2 with a 5.52 average.

The competitive action across the Black Bear Inn showcased the variety that defines a modern cubing competition, ranging from lightning-fast 2x2 sprints to the algorithmic intricacies of Clock and Megaminx. Solvers of all backgrounds pushed their personal benchmarks in this speed cubing showcase, establishing twenty new records across the preliminary phases. With all 18 podium spots earned by United States competitors, Orono Open 2025 concluded as a memorable gathering for regional speedcubing talent in 2025.