One thing I keep coming back to from the 2026 PSL Championship is how Kyle Santucci handled the end of that night. Or that morning, really. The final ended after midnight.
He had already beaten Dylan Miller earlier in the bracket. Dylan then beat Patrick Ponce to earn another shot at Kyle. Dylan won their first grand final match to force a reset, then swept the opening set of the deciding match, 3-0.
Kyle won the next three sets and the title. Along the way, he answered Dylan’s 4.94 with a 4.51, then his 5.04 with a 4.62.
Both had been through a long night, with different amounts of time to rest between matches. Maybe the break helped Kyle. Maybe playing more helped Dylan stay sharp. Either way, they had to be ready when it was their opportunity.
When I think about Kyle’s win, I think about him going down again after the reset and still coming back. I think about him beating Luke Griesser’s 6.17 with his own 6.16 while mounting a comeback in that match. Those moments tell me something about him as a competitor that his personal best cannot.
More Than a Time
On the latest Plus Three episode, Tyler Rose compared local WCA competitions to standardized testing. You solve in a controlled environment, follow the same rules, and get a result you can compare with everyone else’s.
That works well for measuring improvement. But I don’t think those times tell us everything about who will win when the best solvers meet.
In head-to-head, you might have to respond to a fast solve, recover from a lost point, or stay focused through a long tournament.
Being able to solve quickly matters, but so does being able to do it after something goes wrong.
You Still Have to Win
Max Park won Worlds in 2023 with a 5.31 average, beating Yiheng Wang by 0.01. Yiheng was the world record holder going into the tournament, so many believed he was the favorite to win it all, despite it being his first Worlds.
However, Max had not only competed at Worlds before, he had won one. I think experience on that stage matters.
Yiheng came back to win Worlds in 2025. I think having been through that 2023 final helped when the title came down to his last solve.
Max’s win should not count for less because someone else didn’t do their best. I feel the same way about Kyle’s North American title this year.
Give Championships More Weight
When someone wins a major title, I want that to be a bigger part of how we talk about their career. Who did they beat? How did they handle a close final? Have they done it more than once? Those questions deserve as much attention as their best average.
A faster time at another competition is worth celebrating. But it does not answer what would have happened in that final, against that field, with that title on the line.
We can spend all year arguing about who should win. When the big competitions come around, I want us to give more credit to the people who actually do.