North American Championship 2026 Results & Highlights

What Happened at the North American Championship 2026?

📌 Kyle Santucci from Canada won the 3x3 event at the North American Championship 2026 with a 5.63 second average, edging out Matty Hiroto Inaba (5.70) and Max Park (5.93). The same weekend, Max Park set a new 7x7 world record of 1:30.59 seconds and also won the 5x5 title with a 34.65-second continental record average.

This July, the speedcubing world is in full competition mode, with major WCA-sanctioned events happening back-to-back across the globe. Currently, the spotlight is on the Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2026, held in Raleigh, North Carolina, bringing together top speedcubers from across the region for intense competition, record attempts, and community celebration.

The championship ran from July 2 to July 5 at the Raleigh Convention Center and doubled up as both the North American Championship and the 19th Cubing USA National Championship. It was only the third time the WCA has organized a North American Championship, and with a competitor cap of 1,200, it turned into one of the biggest cubing weekends of the year.

📸 Glimpse of the Competition: NAC 2026 at a Glance

Which events were held?

NAC 2026 ran the full spread of 17 official WCA events across the four days:

>>3x3 Cube, 2x2 Cube, 4x4 Cube, 5x5 Cube, 6x6 Cube, 7x7 Cube

>>3x3 Blindfolded, 4x4 Blindfolded, 5x5 Blindfolded, 3x3 Multi-Blind

>>3x3 Fewest Moves, 3x3 One-Handed

>>Clock, Megaminx, Pyraminx, Skewb, Square-1

Who Won What: Champions of NAC 2026

Here's the headline podium sheet—the results that defined the weekend: Fastest Solves of the Weekend

⭐ Fastest confirmed single: Luke Griesser — 4.01 seconds (3x3, personal best, earlier round)
⭐ Fastest single inside a final: Caleb Chen — 4.19 seconds (3x3 final)
⭐ Fastest Square-1 single: Hassan Khanani — 4.45 seconds (final)
⭐ Biggest record of the weekend: Max Park—1:30.59 seconds (7x7 single, World Record)

Worth noting: "fastest" and "most impressive" aren't always the same thing here. A 4-second 3x3 single is quick, but Max Park's 1:30.59 on a 7x7 — a cube with 49 stickers per face instead of 9 — is arguably the far tougher feat, which is exactly why it made global cubing headlines within hours.

NAC 2026 By the Numbers

⭐ 4 days of competition — July 2 to July 5
⭐ 17 official WCA events contested
⭐ 1,200 competitor cap for the event
⭐ 2 continental/national records set (5x5 average and 5x5 bronze)
⭐ 3rd-ever North American Championship held by the WCA

Who Won the 3x3 Final at NAC 2026?

Kyle Santucci walked away with the biggest title of his career, and he didn't do it as the favorite. He entered the final as the No. 10 seed, nowhere near the names most people had circled for the podium. But his solves told a different story: 5.30, 6.28, 5.23, 5.50, and 6.09 seconds, a run steady enough to hold off a stacked field. Asked earlier in the day how he was feeling, Santucci simply said, “I’m going to win.” He backed it up.

This win makes him the first Canadian competitor to take the 3x3 title at a North American Championship — and it's his first major championship win, period. The success of Canadian speedcubing is significant for a region that has produced many dominant American solvers over the years.

How Tight Was the Race for the Podium?

Matty Hiroto Inaba, the 2022 North American 3x3 champion, pushed Santucci the hardest. He opened with a smooth 5.54 and stayed composed through 5.83, 6.26, 5.74, and 5.46 to land a 5.70 average — good enough for silver, not quite enough to reclaim the title.

Max Park rounded out the podium in third with a 5.93 average. Right behind him, Luke Garrett was just shy of the win: a clean 4.85 on his third solve turned into a 6.85 after a +2 penalty, and without that penalty his average would have been fast enough for gold.

He finished fifth instead. Caleb Chen had his own redemption arc, recovering from what he called a rough World Championship to finish fourth with a 5.94, powered by the fastest single of the final at that point, a 4.19.

There were lighter moments too. Philippines representative Neo Cuares kept the room laughing after a rough 6.73 solve by flashing a playful hand sign to the crowd, and he still finished with a respectable 6.02 average. Just outside the top ten, Luke Griesser had one of the most dramatic swings of the night — a 4.01 personal best single in an earlier round, then a costly wrong-algorithm penalty that turned a strong solve into a 10.15, before he closed with a blazing 4.09 to finish 10th.

Who Else Won Big at NAC 2026?

3x3 wasn't the only event with a story. Across the four days, several other titles changed hands or got defended in style, giving a real glimpse of just how deep North American speedcubing talent runs right now.

Max Park's 5x5 Title Defense

Max Park backed up his 7x7 world record with a dominant 5x5 win, averaging 34.65 seconds—a new continental record and his second straight NAC title in the event, extending his run to seven consecutive U.S. National Championships in 5x5. Henry Lichner took silver with a 40.42 average, and Canada's Omar Ellabban earned bronze with a 41.08 average, itself a new Canadian national record.

Hassan Khanani Defends His Square-1 Title

Hassan Khanani went back-to-back in Square-1, winning with a 6.21 average in one of the most nerve-wracking finals of the weekend. The lead changed hands multiple times: Max Siauw grabbed an early edge with a 5.45, Brendyn Dunagan clawed back into contention, and Siauw even suffered a mid-final cube drop that drew an audible groan from the crowd. Khanani settled it with a clutch 4.45 on his fourth solve and closed out the title with a composed 5.87 before the last competitor had even finished.

David Andron-Silva Takes the Pyraminx Crown

A year after finishing runner-up at U.S. Nationals, David Andron-Silva went one better, winning Pyraminx with a 1.95 average in one of the closest finals of the weekend—just 0.02 seconds ahead of Michael Nielsen's 1.97. Andron-Silva credited daily competition simulations for his preparation and gave an emotional shoutout to his parents, who told reporters they'd never even heard of speedcubing before their son picked it up.

What Records Were Broken at NAC 2026?

Even outside the 3x3 final, Max Park left Raleigh with his name in the record books again. He set a new world record in the 7x7 single with a time of 1:30.59, improving on his own previous record of 1:32.07—a mark he'd set only weeks earlier at the Western Championship 2026 in Riverside, California, after briefly losing the record to Malaysia's Lim Hung.

It's the latest chapter in one of the most competitive rivalries in big-cube solving right now, with names like Lim Hung, Seung Hyuk Nahm, and Henry Lichner all closing the gap on Park recently. Every time the record looks within reach, Park seems to find another gear.

Why Does the 7x7 Event Matter So Much?

Big cube events like 7x7 reward a different skill set than 3x3. Solvers need flawless center and edge tracking across a much larger puzzle, plus the stamina to stay accurate deep into a long solve. A sub-1:31 single is a genuinely rare feat, which is exactly why it made headlines across the cubing community within hours of happening.

What Made This Year's Championship Special?

NAC 2026 wasn't just about the results sheet. As the event also served as the US National Championship, it attracted a strong field of qualified competitors from across the continent, all competing at the Raleigh Convention Center. Add in the livestreamed finals, and the community got a close-up look at some of the tightest, most emotional finals of the year—from Santucci's underdog run to Andron-Silva's family moment on the Pyraminx podium.

The 3x3 final in particular had a bit of everything: composed veterans, a breakout underdog, small penalty-driven swings, and lighter moments between competitors before their solves. That mix of high stakes and community energy is precisely what makes a North American Championship feel different from a regular local competition.

Why Does This Matter for Speedcubers in India?

Events like NAC 2026 aren't just entertainment for fans watching from outside North America—they're a benchmark. Watching how finalists manage pressure, recover from a bad solve, or fine-tune their look-ahead under stage lights gives Indian speedcubers real, usable insight for their competition prep, whether that's a state-level meet or a WCA-sanctioned event closer to home.

If you're training toward your next competition, this is also a good moment to check whether your cube is actually keeping up with your solves. A sluggish or uneven turning cube can cost you tenths of a second on every attempt, and in a final as tight as this one, tenths of a second are precisely what separate a podium finish from 10th place.

Final Thoughts

NAC 2026 delivered exactly what a North American Championship should: a genuinely unpredictable 3x3 final, a fresh face on top of the podium, and a world record to top it all off. Kyle Santucci's win is proof that seeding doesn't decide finals — composure does. And Max Park's 7x7 record is a reminder that the ceiling for big-cube solving keeps moving, even for the man who keeps raising it.

Now that you've caught up on what went down in Raleigh, why not put some of that final-round energy into your own goals?

Explore Cubelelo's range of competition-ready cubes and gear up for your next event.