Reno Summer 2023

Paul Mahvi set an untouchable standard in the Silver State, taking gold across three separate disciplines to anchor a dramatic day of solving at Earl Wooster High School. The standout clash arrived in the 3x3x3 One-Handed final, where international standout Anto Kam from Hong Kong delivered a sub-10 winning average of 9.95 to claim the title outright. That performance disrupted a near-total domestic sweep on American soil and pushed Mahvi into third place with a 16.80 average, while Caleb Yao took second at 15.67.

Held on June 10, 2023, Reno Summer 2023 welcomed 56 competitors to Reno, Nevada, USA, for a packed schedule spanning 6 events and 12 total rounds. While local and regional contenders fought to protect home turf across every bracket, the presence of elite speedcubing talent from abroad raised the stakes on every turn. The atmosphere inside the Earl Wooster High School venue remained charged from the opening heats through to the late-afternoon finals.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube contest stood as the weekend's main battleground, drawing a field of 54 competitors through three tense rounds. Mahvi proved unyielding across the penultimate and final rounds, securing top honors with a tournament-winning average of 7.72 and a best single of 7.37. Caleb Yao chased closely to finish as runner-up on an 8.55 average, while Jason Ostdiek locked up the third step on the podium with an 8.79 mark in the definitive 3x3 results.

Beyond the standard Rubik's Cube, Mahvi extended his supremacy into the heavier twisty puzzles. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Mahvi registered a dominant 29.33 average, leaving Mitchell Lane in second at 33.99 and Michael Larsen in third at 34.99. When the action scaled up to the 7x7x7 Cube, Mahvi once again outpaced the pack by more than 43 seconds, capturing first place with a 2:20.51 average ahead of Lane's 3:04.47 and Jeremy Benik's 3:43.77.

Mitchell Lane found his own moment of triumph at the Megaminx tables, edging out Daniel Doherty in one of the tightest finishes of the entire WCA competition. Lane locked down first place with a 1:00.01 average, sneaking past Doherty's 1:00.27 by a mere twenty-six hundredths of a second, while Mahvi collected third place with 1:02.52. In the Pyraminx division, Michael Larsen topped the podium on a 5.22 average, edging Caleb Yao's 5.29 and Jason Ostdiek's 6.01 across two competitive rounds.

Away from the podium battles, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones in their personal speed cubing journeys. Ashton Roske delivered a massive leap forward on the Pyraminx, logging a personal best single of 3.72 that was 54.7 percent faster than their prior record, while also setting personal bests in the 4x4x4 Cube with 1:01.50 and 3x3x3 Cube with 16.34. Breanna LaGere tackled 5 events, shaving 39.7 percent off her Pyraminx best down to 3.22 and recording a 40.42 personal record in 4x4x4 Cube.

The progress continued through the ranks as Anthony Skeen improved his 3x3x3 personal best by 38.3 percent to 30.02 and took his first ever attempt at 3x3x3 One-Handed in 1:55.28. Kaden James dropped his 3x3x3 Cube personal mark by 27.8 percent down to 23.06, while Hudsun Maritt lowered his personal best to 34.54, a 25.3 percent improvement. Daniel Cho, entering 5 events, secured a Megaminx personal best of 2:05.09, which was 27.7 percent faster than before. Larry Zhang cut 15.3 percent from his 4x4x4 Cube best with a 1:02.43 single, while Liam Ledesma made a strong debut in his first cubing competition across 5 events, finishing 10th in Megaminx.

The single-day fixture concluded with the United States collecting 17 podium places while Hong Kong secured one through Anto Kam's one-handed victory. From the rapid-fire Pyraminx turns to the endurance tests on the big cubes, Reno Summer 2023 delivered intense regional battles and unforgettable personal breakthroughs for everyone who took their place at the solving stations.