The first day of WGI Percussion and Winds World Championships is in the books, and it wasn’t lacking for red-hot performances and intriguing competitive results.

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Independent World scores were ridiculously close at the top, with the top three scorers — defending champion Pulse (97.063), Rhythm X (96.900) and RCC (96.863) — all separated by two tenths of a point. Broken City scored in a close fourth at 96.000.

Just TWO TENTHS between the Top 3 in Independent World 🤯🤯#wgi2023 pic.twitter.com/ZmcH59N8Vr

— FloMarching (@FloMarching) April 21, 2023

Music City Mystique, also not far off the pace, rounded out the top five with a score of 95.388.  

The competition atop the Scholastic World leaderboard was as close as could be, with the top three — Chino Hills (96.213), Ayala (96.100) and defending champion Avon (95.775) — all separated by less than half a point across two rounds. 

Vista Murrieta, a first-time visitor to WGI World Championships, landed in fourth place overall with a score of 94.788.

👀😨😱#wgi2023 pic.twitter.com/tGrXnkbOyB

— FloMarching (@FloMarching) April 20, 2023

While Dartmouth (93.625) rounded out the top five, Center Grove finished in close striking distance with a score of 93.300. The Indianapolis-based drum line, which currently sits in sixth overall, placed 12th last year.

All of the lights from Center Grove ⚫️⚪️#wgi2023 pic.twitter.com/ZEftK7TVlS

— FloMarching (@FloMarching) April 20, 2023

While Meraki earned the top score across two rounds of Independent Open competition at 95.875, IMPACT Percussion (93.675) and Freedom Percussion (93.550) had an airtight finish for the second overall score. As for Scholastic Open, four Indiana ensembles finished among the top six overall scores, but it was South Carolina-based Clover (94.875) who ended up with top marks. 

Scholastic A Prelims performances wrapped up early in the day Thursday, with scores for all four rounds locked in by mid-afternoon. Round 1 posted three different groups over 90 points, including Irondale Combined Schools’ top overall PSA scores of 92.525, ahead of Longmont Combined Schools (90.825) and Unionville (90.413). 

Vandebilt Catholic (91.888) and Beavercreek (91.250) took the day’s second- and third-highest PSA scores, each winning their own respective rounds. PSA Semifinals and Finals are both scheduled for Friday. 

2023’s Independent A silver-medalist, Modulation Z, came out firing on all cylinders in Thursday’s PIA Prelims, taking top score by more than three points over a field of 15 competitors, all of which will advance to Friday night’s Finals. St. Martin Independent, North Star Independent and Charles Towne Percussion all broke 90s in a close race for medalist positions.

Thursday’s 14 competing Concert ensembles, across three scholastic classes, set the table for an exciting Friday Finals, with Warren East (PSCA), Cleveland (PSCO) and Fishers (PSCW) taking top marks respectively. 

A Class Finals, Concert Finals, and Semifinals competition across the board will highlighted a jam-packed Friday of percussion performances.

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