posted Oct 29th, 2025 - The Golden Knights, new U.S. 4-way champion and national team for next year's outdoor world championship, continue with 8-way competition after the convincing performance in 4-way Open. They have teamed up with three Arizona Airspeed members and Michelle Karamon and completed six rounds on Tuesday.

The 8-way teams had four more rounds on their agenda on Wednesday and completed two of them before a new wind hold interrupted the operation. The break was long enough for NSL Live Talk with the complete 4-way lineup to discuss the completed ten 4-way and eight 8-way rounds.

The 8-way competition features the pickup team in 2nd place after their three training jumps. They have won two rounds over Paraclete XP8 and tied the highscore for Round 8, while they are too far behind to challenge Paraclete XP8's new lineup after their 500+ training jumps this year. Mitch Stockenberg, Nick Birkner and team videographer Skyler Romberg are in the middle of their first 8-way competition. Nick Birkner and Skyler Romberg had not done any 8-way before the three training jumps on Monday and the eight competition rounds. They are enjoying the more casual approach and will continue in 16-way and 10-way, as well.

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NSL Live Talk with the Golden Knights

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The 8-way competition was only a side topic of the conversation. It was mainly the 4-way battle with Arizona Airspeed and the visit of the French national team in 4-way Open, Aethers Lille, that were discussed. The Golden Knights recalled Round 1 and explained what happened in the meet opener that Airspeed won with a sole highscore.

The three top contenders all completed 24 points within working time, while only the defending champions avoided any point deductions. Aethers Lille lost one point, and the Golden Knights suffered the biggest damage after three infringements. Airspeed were three points ahead of the Golden Knights after Round 1, very surprisingly, and also one point ahead of the French national team.

Golden Knights and Aethers Lille engineered the sequence of Round 1 the same way, while Airspeed found a different and possibly faster transition from the bottom of Block 4 to the top of Block 5. However, the different engineering options did not make enough of a difference to explain the Round 1 scores. The Golden Knights said that the typical Round 1 psychology was more behind the outcome. Together with coach Niklas Hemlin they digested the 3-point less well and launched the recovery process. Two rounds later, the Golden Knights had a 1-point lead over Airspeed and extended it to 29 points after Round 10. Now the journey to the first 4-way gold medals of a Golden Knights lineup since 1985 has begun.

USPA Nationals 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		O,4,5		21,12,22		6,J,H,G		N,2,20		L,13,A,F		7,19,M		1,14,18		9,10,15		17,E,8		C,3,P,K		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Lille	FR	23	-1	19		33		23		34		26		18		21		23	-1	30	-1	250	25.0
2	Golden Knights	US	21	-3	19		29		22		36		26		19		19	-2	26		28		245	24.5
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	24		17		27		19		29		23		15		17		22		23	-1	216	21.6
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	19		14	-1	27		19		26	-1	22		15		16		19		19	-5	196	19.6
5	Elsinore Elevate	US	17	-1	14		23		17		26		21		15		16		19		21		189	18.9
6	Inertia AZ	US	16	-1	14	-1	24		16	-1	25		20		14		16		12	-5	20		177	17.7
7	The OGs	US	17		9	-3	21	-1	15	-1	21	-2	18		13		12	-2	16	-1	18	-2	160	16.0
8	Redline XP	US	14	-1	10	-1	18		14		22		13	-3	12		12		17		15	-1	147	14.7
9	Ranch TNT	US	13	-3	11		21		13		18		16	-1	11		12		14		12	-2	141	14.1
9	Double Trouble	US	14		11		18		12	-1	18		15		12		12		13	-1	16		141	14.1
11	Rhetirement Rhedux	US	12	-2	7	-3	16		11	-1	17		14	-1	9	-1	8	-2	10	-1	14		118	11.8
12	XP Angels	US	11	-1	9	-1	15	-2	11	-2	16	-1	13		10		7	-2	13	-1	12		117	11.7

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Arizona Airspeed - Golden Knights at the USPA Nationals 2025

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