Wisconsin on Ice 2026

Zeke Mackay delivered a decisive performance under tournament pressure, posting a 6.30 winning average and a 5.61 best single to capture the premier 3x3x3 Cube title. That victory set the tone for an intense day of high-stakes speedcubing, where ninety-four competitors gathered to contest thirteen total rounds across six different events. Staged at Elmbrook Church - Lake Country in Delafield, Wisconsin, USA on January 24, 2026, the meet brought top-tier regional talent together to battle through multi-round brackets where every solve carried immediate consequences for advancement.

The championship battles at Wisconsin on Ice 2026 quickly expanded across multiple puzzle disciplines, highlighted by Brian Johnson claiming three separate event victories. In the 3x3x3 One-Handed final, Johnson secured first place with a 10.73 average and a 9.76 single, edging Mackay, who finished second with an 11.90 mark, while Carter Kucala took third at 12.82. Johnson also topped the Square-1 field with a 6.38 average, again ahead of Mackay at 8.86 and Lucas Lippman-Bruno at 9.86, demonstrating remarkable versatility across radically different puzzle mechanics throughout the weekend.

The 2x2x2 Cube event presented another tightly contested final round, where Johnson earned his third title of the day with a 1.56 winning average and a 1.21 best single. Kucala pushed hard right to the final solves, finishing as the runner-up with a 1.62 average, while Mackay earned third place with a 1.75 average. The three-round progression tested the field through eighty entrants, requiring steady consistency under strict elimination cutoffs to reach the eight-person podium stage.

Carter Kucala claimed his own title in the Skewb event, navigating through fifty-eight competitors to take the win with a 2.51 average and a 1.45 single. Jory Hullin secured the second spot on the podium with a 2.85 mark, followed closely by Simon Kellum in third place at 3.39. In the largest puzzle of the schedule, the 7x7x7 Cube, Carter Thomas dominated the two-round contest with a 2:03.70 average and a single of 2:00.59, finishing ahead of Mackay at 2:27.36 and Sebastian Carrillo at 2:49.79.

Beyond the podium battles, the depth of this WCA competition was reflected in the personal benchmarks achieved across every event tier. Satvik Reddy delivered one of the largest drops of the day, cutting his Skewb mark to 4.71, which was 68.2 percent faster than his previous best of 14.79, while also improving his 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube standard to 12.30. Daniel Tartar also found huge speed in Skewb, posting a 3.82 personal best to beat his old mark by 62.6 percent, and registered a 27.19 in his first ever attempt at 3x3x3 One-Handed. Dan Pietz lowered his Skewb best to 4.34, an improvement of 54.4 percent, while Arrustu Mirza trimmed his 3x3x3 One-Handed best to 1:02.64, a 47.9 percent drop.

Several competitors made major progress in new disciplines or marked significant milestones on the tournament stage. Luca Block reached tenth place in the 7x7x7 Cube while shaving 41 percent off his Skewb mark with a 6.76 solve. Jackson Nelson took on five events, producing a 5:29.22 in his first ever attempt at 7x7x7 Cube and trimming his Skewb record to 4.62. Walker Lim tackled five events in his first WCA competition, recording a 4.98 on 2x2x2 Cube and a 36.14 in one-handed, while Cody Kosmal completed his first career tournament with a 4.84 in 2x2x2 Cube and a 7:14.91 in 7x7x7 Cube.

The premier 3x3 results capped the afternoon schedule with a ninety-two competitor field that demanded three full rounds of sharp execution. Mackay stood atop the podium with his 6.30 average, while Johnson secured second place with a 6.89 mark. Mihir Narayan took third place with a 7.19 average, capturing a podium place for India alongside seventeen podium finishes earned by United States solvers across the six scheduled events.

Wisconsin on Ice 2026 proved to be an exacting test of tournament nerve, balancing classic Rubik's Cube speed cubing with big cubes and specialty formats. Across ninety-four competitors and thirteen rounds of play, the Delafield gathering delivered high-level execution from seasoned winners and breakthrough solves throughout the ranks. The day demonstrated how a single cubing competition can demand precision from the opening heats straight through to the final championship brackets.