Lopes Up AZ 2026

Dan Tran delivered a masterclass under tournament pressure at Antelope Gym, sweeping both the marquee 3x3x3 Cube and the 4x4x4 Cube to headline Lopes Up AZ 2026. Across a tightly contested day of speedcubing on February 8, 2026, Tran produced a commanding 7.63 winning average in the main event after posting the round single of 6.57 seconds. His triumph over a packed field of 60 competitors in the classic Rubik's Cube set the tone for an intense schedule in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, where six separate disciplines pushed contenders through eleven total rounds of action.

The 3x3 results confirmed Tran at the top of the podium, but the chase behind him remained razor thin. Ryan Morrison secured the runner-up spot with an 8.84 average, holding off Samuel Low by a mere hundredth of a second as Low took third at 8.85. Low was far from done on the day, however, mounting a formidable campaign across multiple puzzles. The high-stakes environment demanded absolute precision on every turn, and the final round delivered a display of technical control from the top three finishers.

Tran extended his dominance directly into the 4x4x4 Cube, leading the 39-competitor bracket from start to finish. He captured his second title of the cubing competition with an average of 30.13 seconds, highlighted by a tournament-best single of 26.63. Samuel Low claimed silver with a 32.67 mark, while Xavier W. NcCorchuk took bronze in 33.44. The double-victory cemented Tran as the weekend standout across the primary cubic events, showing remarkable consistency over long, grueling match rounds.

The specialized puzzles offered just as much drama. In Clock, Kellan Kight dominated two rounds of play among 33 entrants, taking the championship with a 5.22 average and a round-best 4.69 single. Emmett Galli followed in second place with a 7.50, edging Parker Reed who locked up third at 7.68. The Square-1 final went down to single-round precision, where Brady Lawrence claimed victory among 19 solvers with an 11.56 average. Nathan Agan took second in 12.86, while Samuel Low earned his third podium of the meet with a 15.27 third-place result.

Behind the top-line podium battles, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones away from the center spotlight. Oliver Breecher delivered one of the weekend largest single breakthroughs, dropping his Clock personal best to 9.37 seconds, an improvement of 43 percent from his previous mark of 16.44. Andrew Ahlem cut his Skewb best down by 39.1 percent to 4.29 seconds while tackling four separate events. Liam Wirth took on two disciplines and improved his 4x4x4 Cube best by 30.9 percent to 1:05.92, while Liam Waggle logged a 29.6 percent improvement on Clock to finish in 13.66 and made his first official attempt at 4x4x4 Cube in 2:20.14.

That same drive was evident in the heavy multi-event workloads taken on across the roster. Hudson Mangum-Bartholomew shaved 28.2 percent off his 3x3x3 Cube time to reach 39.14 seconds and completed his first official Clock solve in 20.02. Lorenzo Burton Allen dropped his 3x3x3 Cube mark by 27.6 percent to 12.99 across four disciplines. Lucas Wandler registered a 22.4 percent improvement in 3x3x3 Cube with a 22.96 single and made his first attempt at Skewb in 14.71. Sawyer Mangum-Bartholomew rounded out four events with a fourth-place finish in 3x3x3 Blindfolded, cutting his personal best by 17.8 percent to 2:42.29.

The rapid-fire Skewb tournament featured an international breakthrough as India's Aayush Shah conquered a 44-solver field. Shah captured gold with an average of 3.98 seconds, punctuated by a 3.56 single in the final. Brian Yi pushed hard to take second place with a 4.35 average, while Parker Reed earned another podium placement on the day by securing third in 5.88. The victory stood as the lone non-United States podium spot, representing a premier finish on the Phoenix floor.

Memorization and execution collided in the 3x3x3 Blindfolded division, where Matthew Low rose above the 14-person field to claim the title. Low assembled a 1:17.43 winning average and set the day benchmark with a 54.10 single solve without sight. Ryan Morrison collected second place in 1:36.62, adding another medal to his collection, while Nathan Agan secured third with a 1:38.98 average. The blindfolded event demanded absolute mental endurance, wrapping up a memorable schedule of speed cubing excellence.

As Lopes Up AZ 2026 concluded, the final tallies reflected a fiercely contested WCA competition that tested versatility across short sprints and long strategic puzzles alike. With multiple medals earned by repeat performers and massive time drops recorded throughout the field, the Phoenix stop demonstrated the very best of regional competition, setting a high standard for competitors heading into the next chapter of the season.