The 2025 title
The championship's record of winners lists Wesley Twiggs as the 2025 champion. He follows Nelson Dellis, who won in 2024, and John Graham, who won in 2023 and 2022. Earlier holders include Joshua Foer, the journalist whose 2006 win produced the book Moonwalking with Einstein, and Ram Kolli, champion in 2005 and again in 2013.
The competition's own site published the qualifying round scores for 2025 in July of that year. The research record behind this page notes that the title is taken from the championship's encyclopedic record and that the official 2025 champion page was not seen when the record was compiled. That caveat is repeated here.
What the competition actually involves
The live championship is scored across four events. It's Been a Long Time asks competitors to absorb roughly 4,000 data points on a set subject - the periodic table, or the NFL Hall of Fame - and then answer progressively harder questions on it. Words to Remember gives fifteen minutes to memorise 300 randomised words.
Tea Party requires competitors to meet six guests, take in personal details about each, and answer questions on them afterwards. Double Deck or Bust closes the day: 104 shuffled cards, five minutes, one recall. Online qualifying rounds test cards, image sequences, names and faces, digit sequences and word lists.
Where the championship comes from
The USA Memory Championship was founded in 1997 by Tony Dottino and Marshall Tarley. For most of its history it was a spring event held in New York City. Since 2016 it has run in the autumn at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida.
The sport it represents is small and technical. Competitors are not born with unusual recall; they train specific encoding systems - assigning images to cards, digits or names, then placing those images along a remembered route - and the championship is a test of how reliably those systems hold up under a clock.
Teaching the method
What distinguishes Twiggs in the search record is not only the title but the teaching. The research record for this page notes that he posts memory-technique tutorials online, and links a video of his work. Memory sport has an unusual culture in this respect: its champions tend to publish their systems rather than guard them, on the reasoning that the techniques are ancient and the competition is in the execution.
That tradition runs back through Foer's book and through the training material published by earlier champions. The methods are learnable, which is the sport's central claim and the reason its champions spend as much time explaining as competing.
What is documented and what is not
Documented: that he won the 2025 USA Memory Championship, the structure and events of the competition, its founders and its move to Full Sail University in Orlando, the list of recent champions, and the publication of the 2025 qualifying round scores.
Not documented in these sources: his age or date of birth, his home town, his occupation, his scores in any event, how long he has competed, and any result before or after 2025. The research record notes that the official 2025 champion page was not seen. No IQ figure appears anywhere in this file, and memory sport does not measure one.
Watch: Wesley Twiggs on camera
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Reinhard | Germany | Winning the Extreme Memory Tournament in 2014 and 2016 | Age 35 |
| Wesley Twiggs | United States | Winning the 2025 USA Memory Championship | — |
| Scott Hagwood | United States | Winning the USA Memory Championship four years running | — |
| Oyun-Erdene Tsengelbayar | Mongolia | Spoken-numbers gold at Memoriad 2024 | — |
| Tatiana Cooley-Marquardt | United States | Winning the USA Memory Championship three times | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Listed as the 2025 USA Memory Championship winner
- The championship was founded in 1997 by Tony Dottino and Marshall Tarley
- It has been held each autumn at Full Sail University in Orlando since 2016
- Its closing event, Double Deck or Bust, requires recall of 104 shuffled cards memorised in five minutes
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- The research record notes the official 2025 champion page was not seen when it was compiled
- No age, home town, occupation or event scores appear in these sources
- No earlier or later competitive result for him is documented here
Questions people ask about Wesley Twiggs
What is Wesley Twiggs known for?
Winning the 2025 USA Memory Championship, and for publishing tutorials on memory technique.
How old is Wesley Twiggs?
No age or date of birth appears in any source used for this page.
What does the USA Memory Championship involve?
Four live events: absorbing around 4,000 data points on a set subject, memorising 300 random words in fifteen minutes, taking in details about six guests at a tea party, and recalling 104 shuffled cards in five minutes.
Where is the championship held?
At Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida, each autumn. It ran in New York City in the spring until 2016.
Who else has won it?
Nelson Dellis won in 2024, John Graham in 2023 and 2022, Ram Kolli in 2005 and 2013, and the journalist Joshua Foer in 2006.
Are memory techniques learnable?
The sport's own premise is that they are: competitors train encoding systems that assign images to cards, digits or names and place them along remembered routes. Champions routinely publish their methods.
Is Wesley Twiggs on Wikipedia?
He appears in the USA Memory Championship's list of winners. No standalone English Wikipedia article for him is recorded here.
What is Wesley Twiggs's IQ?
No IQ figure appears in any source used for this page. Memory sport tests trained technique under a clock, not intelligence.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Wesley’s story?
Which event closes the USA Memory Championship?
Where is the championship held?
Who won the title in 2024, the year before Twiggs?
Sources
- USA Memory Championship — Wikipedia (USA Memory Championship)
- USAMC 2025 Qualifying Round Scores — USA Memory Championship (official), 2025-07
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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