Arizona Championship 2024

103 competitors gathered at the Bear Down Gym on May 18 to May 19, 2024, setting the stage for two full days of high-stakes puzzle solving. Across 13 official events and 25 intense rounds, the Arizona Championship 2024 brought a broad range of disciplines to Tucson, Arizona, USA. While the quiet discipline of analytical solving always casts a distinct shadow over speed disciplines, this tournament prioritized pure turning pace and tactical dexterity across an exhaustive schedule.

Unlike the quiet pen and paper analysis often found in mental puzzle formats, this cubing competition rewarded relentless fingertip velocity and rapid pattern recognition. The classic Rubik's Cube drew a massive field of 98 competitors across three rounds of play. Ryan Pilat controlled the premier category from start to finish, recording a best single of 6.32 seconds and securing the title with a 6.85-second average. Jeremy Bulambot took second place with a 7.02 average, while Jesse Gonzales rounded out the podium at 8.05 seconds.

Pilat produced an extraordinary individual showing across the entire weekend, capturing titles in eleven different disciplines. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Pilat claimed victory with a 1.98-second final average, followed by Dan Tran at 2.74 and Ivan Vanek at 2.83. The Pyraminx final yielded another top prize for Pilat with a 2.00 flat average, while Skewb went to Pilat in 3.71 seconds ahead of Kevin Li and Parker Reed. Speedcubing fans tracking multi-event capability saw a masterclass in versatility across every single rotation.

The big cube events saw Pilat and Tran battling directly across long series of turns. Pilat won the 4x4x4 Cube with a 29.39-second average, the 5x5x5 Cube in 52.23 seconds, the 6x6x6 Cube in 1:38.24, and the 7x7x7 Cube in 2:31.63. Dan Tran claimed second place in the 5x5x5, 6x6x6, and 7x7x7 categories with times of 55.66, 1:42.56, and 2:45.21 respectively, while Nathan Miles took third across all three larger cube podiums.

Only two events managed to escape Pilat's grip during the Arizona Championship 2024. In the 3x3x3 One-Handed event, Nathan Miles turned in a stellar 11.31-second average to secure the championship over 60 other competitors. In Clock, China's Owen Yepeng Sun delivered a remarkably swift 5.27-second average, taking first place above Pilat's 6.36 average and Maxwell Jensen's 7.97. Pilat reasserted dominance in Megaminx with a 46.92 winning average, Square-1 in 7.02 seconds, and the 3x3x3 Blindfolded division with a 35.07 average, edging out Azael Toysehua of Mexico and Wilson Li.

Beyond the championship podiums, the official WCA competition offered an ideal venue for personal breakthroughs across diverse puzzle formats. Logan Gabriel Robert Bush took on five events and sliced 48.4 percent off his previous benchmark in the 2x2x2 Cube, bringing his personal best down to 6.31 seconds, while also posting a first attempt at Clock in 32.14 seconds. Owen Fotherby cut his 4x4x4 Cube personal record by 36.2 percent to 54.60 seconds and logged a first Pyraminx mark of 7.75. Jaycob Mills shaved 22.3 percent from his Square-1 best with a 14.44-second single, alongside a first 3x3x3 One-Handed attempt of 28.52 seconds. Evan Hollowell completed nine events, recording initial attempts in Clock at 28.87 seconds and 5x5x5 Cube at 3:54.92.

The depth of participation continued with Benson John O'Connor tackling ten categories, including initial tries in 2x2x2 Cube at 4.48 seconds and Pyraminx at 13.69 seconds. Joshua James Goesling logged his first official marks in Megaminx at 1:46.19 and Clock at 14.00 seconds. Jason Chang took on twelve different categories, posting a first 4x4x4 Cube mark of 1:12.50 and reaching 12th place in the 7x7x7 Cube. Micah Arnold also entered twelve events, notching a 12th-place finish in Clock with an initial attempt of 9.91 seconds and a debut in the 6x6x6 Cube at 3:46.47.

The overall medal count reflected heavy regional strength, with competitors from the United States collecting 35 podium places, China taking three, and Mexico earning one. With intense rounds of speed cubing concluding inside Bear Down Gym, the final 3x3 results confirmed the high level of execution demanded over 25 competitive stages. The Arizona Championship 2024 highlighted technical breadth, tactical variety, and enduring speed across an unforgettable weekend in the desert.