Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2026

The Raleigh Convention Center hummed with the quiet intensity of nearly nine hundred problem solvers navigating the ultimate test of consistency. Across the cavernous main hall in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, the atmosphere shifted as the schedule moved toward the most unforgiving formats in speedcubing. Between July 2 and July 5, 2026, competitors at the Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2026 faced formats where a single error spells absolute disaster. In mean-of-three events, unlike traditional averages that discard the worst solve to protect against anomalies, every single recorded time counts toward the final ranking. The pressure was palpable as the field tackled large cubes, blindfolded challenges, and methodical fewest moves attempts, knowing full well that a single lapse in concentration would cement a devastating penalty into their final score.

Max Park proved entirely immune to the immense pressure of the mean-of-three format, delivering a masterful performance in the massive puzzles. In the 7x7x7 Cube event, where mechanical complexity meets grueling endurance across hundreds of individual turns, Park secured the title with an average of 1:40.10. His sheer dominance was underscored by a breathtaking world record single of 1:30.59. He mirrored this exact precision in the 6x6x6 Cube, taking the win with a 1:08.64 average and a best single of 1:08.04. Park also claimed the 5x5x5 Cube title with a North American record average of 34.65 seconds, fending off Henry Lichner and Omar Ellabban, demonstrating an unparalleled command of the larger hardware at this prestigious WCA competition.

The cost of a mistake is highest when the solver cannot even see the puzzle in front of them. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded, 4x4x4 Blindfolded, and 5x5x5 Blindfolded events, competitors rely entirely on memorization before donning their masks. A single misplaced turn results in an unsolved puzzle and a Did Not Finish result. Tommy Cherry navigated this high-wire act to win the 3x3x3 Blindfolded event with a 14.19 best single, beating Noah Swor and Calix Tang. Meanwhile, Stanley Chapel conquered the massive blindfolded formats, winning the 4x4x4 Blindfolded with a 55.15 single and the 5x5x5 Blindfolded with a 2:50.32 single. In all three of these finals, the winning averages were ultimately recorded as DNF, highlighting just how brutal the mean-of-three penalty can be when vision is removed from the equation.

Another discipline strictly governed by the unforgiving mean-of-three structure is 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, where competitors have exactly one hour to draft the shortest possible written solution. Aedan Bryant emerged victorious by finding an average of exactly 21.00 moves across his attempts, bolstered by an astonishing eighteen move single. Carter Kucala and Chris Chi rounded out the podium places in a highly tactical contest. The endurance testing continued in the 3x3x3 Multi-Blind event, which operates as a single attempt marathon rather than a mean. Andrew Tao claimed the gold medal by successfully memorizing and solving 60 out of 63 cubes within a time limit of 58:36, edging out Joshua Gao and Graham Siggins in a dazzling display of speed cubing memory mechanics.

Returning to the classic formats where the fastest and slowest times are dropped, the traditional 3x3 results reflected intense rivalries and razor thin margins. Kyle Santucci triumphed in the flagship 3x3x3 Cube event, posting a winning average of 5.63 and a best single of 5.23 to top a massive field of 866 competitors. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Max Park captured another gold medal, averaging 21.00 seconds to defeat Neo Cuares of the Philippines and Matty Hiroto Inaba. Cuares secured a bronze medal in the 3x3x3 One-Handed event, which was won by Luke Garrett with an 8.79 average ahead of second place finisher Max Park. The standard Rubik's Cube events provided a slightly wider margin for error, though the margins of victory remained incredibly tight throughout the entire year 2026 title race.

The frantic pace of the shorter events provided a stark contrast to the grueling long form challenges. Sujan Feist won the 2x2x2 Cube with a 1.31 average, while Dean Jacob Adamo Susskind captured the Skewb title averaging 1.77. The Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2026 also witnessed a flurry of national records set by international competitors traveling for the event. Matthew Liong of Indonesia won Megaminx with a 30.03 average, setting an Indonesian national record single of 27.19. Ireland saw Colm McCarthy set a 4x4x4 Blindfolded national record average of 3:08.59, and Panama celebrated David Montenegro setting national record singles in both the 2x2x2 Cube and 3x3x3 One-Handed formats. By the end of this massive cubing competition, nearly nine hundred solvers had tested the absolute limits of their competitive consistency.