Mini Minnesota Summer 2023

The drama at the New Brighton Community Center came down to the wire in the blindfolded disciplines. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded final, Andy Wong secured the title by delivering a winning average of 24.64 seconds, supported by a blazing best single of 20.83 seconds. Carter Kucala pushed the champion all the way to the end, logging a best single of 22.69 seconds to secure second place, while Kaius Young took third on the podium with a mark of 55.39 seconds. It was a tense showcase of precision solving where memory and execution collided on the final attempts.

Across the weekend of July 1 to July 2, Mini Minnesota Summer 2023 gathered 20 competitors for an intense test of specialized disciplines. The WCA competition offered 12 rounds of action across seven different events, focusing on large puzzles, memory tests, and unusual solve formats. Hosted in New Brighton, Minnesota, USA, the gathering drew dedicated solvers from across the region to battle against the timer and the classic Rubik's Cube variations that define modern speedcubing.

Big cubes brought their own brand of endurance to the competition floor. In the 7x7x7 Cube final, Carter Bitz earned the victory with a calculated winning average of 2:37.79 and a top single of 2:33.41. Bitz narrowly edged out Walker Welch, who claimed the second spot on the podium with a 2:39.87 average. Tyler Johnson rounded out the top three with an average of 2:45.49 across the two rounds of big puzzle action.

The blindfolded categories demanded maximum focus from the 2023 field. Walker Welch produced a stunning performance in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind, winning the event with 10 successfully solved cubes out of 11 attempts in a time of 57:38. Michael Conard took the second position with 8/9 in 46:53, while Eric Pfaffenbach placed third with 5/6 in 54:43. Welch added another gold in 5x5x5 Blindfolded with a single of 22:58.00, while Carter Kucala took top honors in 4x4x4 Blindfolded by clocking a winning time of 2:48.98.

Behind the top podium positions, several solvers achieved massive personal breakthroughs across the weekend. Kya White slashed their Clock mark down to 19.94 seconds, cutting their previous best by 55.9 percent. Dana Clausen tackled four events and registered a series of first-time milestones, including an initial 7x7x7 Cube attempt of 8:21.16, a first 3x3x3 Fewest Moves score of 49, and an opening 3x3x3 Blindfolded solve of 13:16.00. Ezra Lauritzson delivered a 3/3 debut in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind in 22:26, shaved 14.9 percent off their Fewest Moves best with a solve of 40, and dropped their Clock personal record to 7.35 seconds.

Other competitors unlocked notable improvements on the competition floor. Brody Meschke improved their 3x3x3 Blindfolded personal best by 35.5 percent down to 4:06.08, while also posting personal records of 33 in Fewest Moves and 8.44 in Clock. Shain Papalotl Longbehn improved their Fewest Moves personal best by 23.7 percent to reach a score of 29. Andrew Surine entered four events and put down his first official marks in the 7x7x7 Cube at 8:59.53 and Clock at 46.60. Lisa Kucala advanced her Fewest Moves personal best by 13 percent with a 67, Chris Van Der Brink dropped his 7x7x7 Cube best by 11.1 percent to 3:30.00, and Jedrick Remonde placed fourth in 3x3x3 Blindfolded.

In the rotational challenge of Clock, Kaius Young took control of the three-round event. Young captured the victory with a winning average of 4.82 seconds, highlighted by a single of 3.74. Ben Tibbetts followed in second with an average of 5.50 seconds, while Evan Brown claimed third with 5.67. The speed cubing precision on the dial faces kept the pressure high throughout all three rounds.

Evan Brown found the top step of the podium in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, taking first place with an efficient winning average of 33.67 and a single of 31. Carter Bitz and Andy Wong tied for the subsequent positions with matching averages of 36.33. As the final 3x3 results were tabulated, Mini Minnesota Summer 2023 wrapped up with all 22 podium places claimed by United States competitors, bringing a weekend of technical mastery to a close.