Wing loading vs Span

In days of old the phrase was "Nothing beats wing span". Now it seems as if these short wing "open" birds, i.e., JS1C are beating the long wing birds.. Rarely even see a 23 meter bird in the open class. Having almost half my glider time in the open class I miss the long beautiful wings and at the end of a dying day a 6.2 pound wing loading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt9VfoN2kTA&t=44s

Never having flown a 21 meter bird, but I cannot imagine they are as efficient at dolphin flying as a bird with more span.

So the question is, does span still beat wing loading or does 21 meters at 12 pounds beat 26.5 meters at 9.2 pounds? I realize there are many assumptions and variables, but damnit I miss the beauty of the long wings.