After three days of furious folding, artistic acrobatics and stupendous stretching, an impressive few are leaving Pizza Expo 2025 as winners at the World Pizza Games, the pizza industry’s “homecoming event” and celebration. Contestants train all year to compete at the event, which is organized and judged by the World Pizza Champions.
“It’s hard to believe that this was the 20th year since the comeback of the World Pizza Games here in Las Vegas. The games were bigger than ever, with four of the five competitions being sold out,” says Ken Bryant, owner of Ken’s Wood Fired Pizza Consulting in Palo Cedro, California. In addition to overseeing the 2025 World Pizza Games as a member of the World Pizza Champions, Bryant is a seasoned pizza acrobat who earned his first title at the 1998 World Pizza Games.
He says competitors traveled to Las Vegas from Argentina, Finland, Japan and Switzerland to compete in the World Pizza Games this year. “It was great to see the return of some of our longtime competitors as well as the many new faces who will undoubtedly go on to be the future of the Games,” Bryant says.
First-place finishers in each category win $1,000. Members of the pizza industry competed in five categories:
- Fastest Pizza Box Folding: Contestants race the clock to fold five 12-inch pizza boxes as quickly as possible.
- Fastest Dough: Entrants in this category stretch five 12-ounce dough balls to cover five 12-inch pizza screens.
- Largest Dough Stretch: Challengers have five minutes to see how large they can stretch an 18-ounce dough ball, with judges measuring the longest and shortest sides to calculate the average.
- Freestyle Acrobatic Dough-Tossing: Pizza acrobats choreograph a routine for this crowd-favorite category, which evaluates dexterity, difficulty, synchronization, variety and creativity/entertainment.
- Pizza Triathlon: Competitors are judged on how quickly they can fold one 12-inch pizza box and stretch two dough balls to cover a 16-inch pizza screen and a 24-inch pizza screen.
The winners of the 2025 World Pizza Games are…
Fastest Pizza Box Folding
1st: Stephen Stuccio of You Pizza: 00:18:000
2nd: David Whisker of B.C. Pizza: 00:20:050
3rd: Josh Owens of Mad Mushroom Pizza: 00:22:084
Fastest Dough
1st: Katja Korkko of KOTI Pizza II: 00:33.075
2nd: David Whisker of B.C. Pizza: 00:39.028
3rd: Tara Hattan of Zasas Pizza & Wings: 00:41.063
Largest Dough Stretch
1st: Ireneusz Suszek of Ireneusz Suszek Pizzeria Pomodoro Due: 102.0 (width), 90.7 (length), 96.35 (average)
2nd: Matt Hickey of Caliente Pizza & Draft House: 98.8 (width), 92.4 (length), 95.6 (average)
3rd: Giorgio Nazir of Galbani: 100.5 (width), 90.0 (length), 95.25 (average)
Freestyle Acrobatic Dough-Tossing
Acrobatics Finals
1st: Matt Hickey of Caliente Pizza & Draft House: 375.1
2nd: Michael Testa of Jersey Pizza Boys: 366.1
3rd: Casey Cole of Pizza Pat’s: 323.3
Acrobatics Masters
1st: Justin Wadstein of Sleight of Hand Pizza: 377.5
2nd: Pablo Gil of Sourdough Willy’s Pizzeria: 372.2
3rd: Patt Miller of Pizza Patt’s: 371.7
Pizza Triathlon
1st: Perry Bogacz of Dough Daddy Brewery: 00:36.084
2nd: Tara Hattan of Zasas Pizza & Wings: 00:50.031
3rd: Tiia Valkola of KOTI Pizza II: 00:51.088
Congratulations to all of the winners! For more information about the World Pizza Games and other show events, visit our Pizza Expo hub page.
