Cubing up the UP 2023

Thirty competitors gathered on April 8, 2023, to launch a packed single-day schedule featuring 8 events and 16 rounds of tournament action. Hosted at the Terrace Bay Hotel in Gladstone, Michigan, USA, Cubing up the UP 2023 brought serious speedcubing talent to the Upper Peninsula. Across morning and afternoon stages, competitors traded turns on the timing mats in pursuit of official personal bests and championship titles in a classic Rubik's Cube showdown.

The morning schedule opened with rapid-fire rotations across shorter puzzles, establishing an intense pace early on. Brian Johnson seized control of the 2x2x2 Cube through two competitive rounds, capturing first place with a 1.53 winning average after posting a best single of 1.25. Zeke Mackay claimed second place with a 2.27 average, narrowly edging Simon Kellum, who secured third on the podium with a mark of 2.29 among a full field of 30 solvers.

Midday brought the Pyraminx and Skewb rounds to the stage, keeping the standings volatile. Kellum turned in a dominant showing in Pyraminx, winning the final across two rounds with an average of 1.95 and a sharp single of 1.47. Johnson followed in second place at 2.33, while Mackay took third at 2.97. Johnson answered immediately in Skewb, navigating three rounds among 23 competitors to take top honors with a 3.59 average, just ahead of Mackay at 3.84 and Kellum at 3.97.

Big cubes took over the early afternoon, pushing endurance and precision to the forefront. Zeke Mackay broke through to claim the 4x4x4 Cube title, recording a 29.16 winning average and a 26.74 best single across 22 competitors. Silas Breault followed closely in second place at 29.80, while Johnson took third with 31.75. In the 6x6x6 Cube, Breault claimed victory with a 1:51.74 average, edging Mackay by two hundredths of a second at 1:51.76, while Carter Kucala secured third in 1:53.27.

Behind the fight for podium spots, several competitors delivered massive personal breakthroughs that the final standings do not fully reveal. Zeke Olver entered 5 events and logged a personal best of 4.90 in 2x2x2 Cube, cutting 71% from a prior mark of 16.89, while also completing a first official attempt at Skewb in 24.88 and 3x3x3 One-Handed in 1:23.61. Carter Cieslewicz took on 7 events, setting a 4x4x4 Cube personal best of 1:01.29 to improve by 24.8% and trying 6x6x6 Cube for the first time with a 5:05.12 result. Luke Selle entered all 8 events, completing debut attempts in 4x4x4 Cube at 51.86, 6x6x6 Cube at 3:30.38, and 3x3x3 One-Handed at 49.58, alongside an 8th-place run in Pyraminx. Vrishank Pulavarty made a debut in Skewb at 12.60 and achieved a 3x3x3 Cube personal best of 16.99, a 29.7% improvement.

The depth of progress continued across the lineup with strong multi-event efforts and memorable stage debuts. Maxwell Renkas contested 4 events, earning a 3x3x3 Cube personal best of 20.57 to drop 16.4% and an initial 4x4x4 Cube mark of 2:17.47. Miles Tucker Vang registered a 13.00 personal best in Skewb, improving by 33.3%, alongside a 22.3% cut in 3x3x3 One-Handed to 57.95. Eric Zhang posted an 18.04 personal best on the traditional cube and improved his 3x3x3 One-Handed best by 32.1% to 46.89. Conrad Spieles stepped up for a first career WCA competition, tackling all 8 events on the schedule and logging debut marks of 13.76 on the 3x3x3 Cube, 31.20 in 3x3x3 One-Handed, and 1:06.20 on the 4x4x4 Cube.

Late afternoon brought specialty events into focus before the final showdown. Carter Kucala captured the Square-1 crown across two rounds, averaging 9.10 with a single of 7.64 to finish ahead of Nathan Rahn at 10.26 and Johnson at 10.39. In 3x3x3 One-Handed, Johnson added another gold to his tally across two rounds of play, averaging 11.98 with a best single of 9.61, while Mackay took second at 13.07 and Kucala placed third at 14.97.

The tournament concluded with the main event as 29 solvers battled through three rounds for the definitive 3x3 results. Brian Johnson capped an extraordinary run at Cubing up the UP 2023 by taking victory with a 6.46 average and an event-best single of 5.00. Carter Kucala secured second place with an average of 7.23, and Silas Breault took third at 7.83, bringing a spirited day of speed cubing competition in Michigan to a resounding finish.