Kyle Santucci won 3x3 at the 2026 North American Championship, taking the title with a 5.63 average and becoming the first Canadian competitor to win the event at NAC.
Santucci entered the final as the No. 10 seed, but delivered one of the steadiest performances of the round. His final solves were 5.30, (6.28), (5.23), 5.50, and 6.09, enough to hold off Matty Hiroto Inaba’s 5.70 and Max Park’s 5.93.
The win marked Santucci’s first major championship title and came in one of the deepest 3x3 finals of the weekend.
North American Championship Podium
🥇 Kyle Santucci (Canada) - 5.63
🥈 Matty Hiroto Inaba (United States) - 5.70
🥉 Max Park (United States) - 5.93
US National Championship Podium
🥇 Matty Hiroto Inaba (United States) - 5.70
🥈 Max Park (United States) - 5.93
🥉 Caleb Chen (United States) - 5.94
Before Santucci took control, Neo Cuares helped set the tone for the final.
Cuares, representing the Philippines, could not become North American champion, but he could still affect the overall standings and put pressure on the field. He opened the final with a smooth 5.75, then struggled on solve two after a major lockup led to a 7.64.
His third solve became one of the more memorable early moments of the final. After a 6.73, Cuares paused, shook his head, then kept the mood light by flashing a playful “67” hand motion toward the crowd. The room laughed with him, even as the solve put him in a difficult position.
Cuares recovered well, closing with 5.58 and 4.57, but the counted 6.73 left him with a 6.02 average. Afterward, he said he felt he could have won without the mistake, but was still grateful for the chance to compete on the NAC stage.
That early standard mattered. For much of the final, competitors were not just chasing a clean average. They were chasing the feeling that one mistake could erase a title chance.
Dylan Miller briefly became the top North American name after the second pair, finishing with a 6.36 average despite a +2 on his opening solve and visible frustration with small mistakes, including a corner twist on his final solve. Jack Pfeifer nearly passed him in the next pair, using a composed 5.65 and 6.23 finish to land at 6.39. Pfeifer and Shaun Mack also brought one of the lighter moments of the round, with the “bling boys” necklaces drawing laughs during the post-solve interview.
Then Santucci changed the race.
Facing Kavin Prince in Pair 4, Santucci opened with a 5.30 and never looked overwhelmed by the stage. Even when he shook his head mid-solve or showed small flashes of frustration, his turning stayed composed and his times stayed in range.
His next four solves were 6.28, 5.23, 5.50, and 6.09. The 6.09 on solve five was not perfect, and Santucci said afterward that it could have been better, but it was enough. His 5.63 moved him into first overall and put real pressure on everyone still waiting.
Earlier in the day, Luke Griesser had asked Santucci how he was feeling. Santucci answered, “I’m going to win.”
At that point in the final, it started to look possible.
Caleb Chen made the next serious push. He opened with a 4.19, the fastest single of the final at that point, after a low-two-second F2L and ZB finish. A 7.17 on solve two slowed his title hopes, but he recovered with 6.19, 5.81, and 5.83 to finish fourth with a 5.94. After the round, Chen said his Worlds performance had been “trash,” making this result an emotional rebound.
Inaba, the 2022 North American 3x3 champion, gave Santucci the strongest challenge. He looked calm from the start, using breathing before inspection and keeping his hands steady through a smooth 5.54 opener. He followed with 5.83, 6.26, 5.74, and 5.46, giving him a 5.70 average.
It was a strong, controlled final. It just was not enough.
Luke Griesser, who entered with momentum after a 4.01 personal best single in the previous round, saw his podium hopes disappear after a 7.60 and a 10.15. The 10.15 came after a wrong Sune ZB and +2 penalty, forcing the 7.60 to count. He ended with a 4.09, one of the fastest singles of the final, but finished 10th with a 6.58 average.
The final pair brought the biggest tension of the night: Luke Garrett and Max Park.
Garrett started with a 5.53, then followed with a 6.88. On solve three, he recorded a 4.85, but a +2 penalty turned it into a 6.85. That penalty became the turning point of the final. Without it, Garrett’s average would have been fast enough to win the title.
Instead, he finished fifth with a 6.01. His final 4.48 was one of the fastest solves of the round, but by then it was mostly cosmetic. Garrett reacted with visible frustration, throwing his hands up toward family in the crowd as if to ask what more he could do.
Park, meanwhile, never fully broke through. The top seed posted 5.87, 6.22, 5.99, 5.93, and 4.98. His 5.93 average secured third place, but his fourth solve also locked the title for Santucci.
When the final ended, Santucci’s 5.63 had survived challenges from Inaba, Park, Garrett, Chen, Cuares, and Griesser.
It was not the loudest path to a title. It was the calmest.
Santucci did not need the fastest single of the final. He did not need a record. He needed five solves that held together under pressure.
That was enough to make him North American champion.