2019 Illinois Regional

ILLINOIS REGIONAL

2019 SPEC MIX BRICKLAEYR 500 Illinois Regional Competition

Grzegorz Goral wins the title, ‘Illinois Best Bricklayer.’

Frankfort, IL – The best masons in Illinois came together to test their skill, speed and stamina by battling to see who could build the biggest and best 26-foot-long brick wall in one hour. The competition marked the second of 24 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® Regional Series competitions to be held across North America in 2019. The winner of the each regional qualifies to compete in 2020 World Championship on February 5th, at the World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas.

Ten teams of masons and tenders lined the arena at Tri-State Cut Stone and Brick in Frankfort ready to prove they’re the best craftsmen in the region. Mason Grzegorz Goral and mason tender Stefan Majercak of Molloy Masonry in Chicago took home top honors with a brick count of 607, winning a free trip to Las Vegas for the World Championship, a cash prize of $700, a Marshalltown tool bag, Stabila Level and the title, “Illinois’ Best Bricklayer.” This is their first time qualifying for the World Championship. The duo also took home the SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN prize which goes to the team with the most “sellable wall,” earning them an extra $700.

2019 ILLINOIS REGIONAL RESULTS

FIRST PLACE AND TOP CRAFTSMAN
MASON
Grzegorz Goral
TENDER
Stefan Majercak
COMPANY
Molloy Masonry
Chicago, IL

BRICK COUNT

607
PRIZE AMOUNT

1st Place, $700 – TOP CRAFTSMAN, $700

2ND PLACE

MASON
Marty Marrs
TENDER
Tony Savant
COMPANY
Marrs MasonryTerre Haute, IN BRICK COUNT

557

PRIZE AMOUNT

$400

3RD PLACE
MASON
Mark Saska
TENDER
Graddin Wachter
COMPANY
Adams Masonry
Dyer, IN

BRICK COUNT

471

PRIZE AMOUNT

$300

2019 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Illinois Jr. Competition Competitor

2019 JR SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Apprentice Competition

THE JR. SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500®

Nine teams of post-secondary students from the District Council Training Center were also allowed to compete in their own competition designed specifically for their skill level. They were given 20 minutes to build an abbreviated version of the wall being constructed during the main event. Mason Fernando Verdin took home top honors with a brick count of 112, earning $150 for his efforts. Second Place went to David Sandoval with a brick count of 100, earning him $100. Third place went Nick Sechesan with a brick count of 91 brick, netting him $50 for his efforts.

The SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500^® was established by SPEC MIX in 2003 to showcase the skill and craftsmanship of professional masons. It is featured as the headliner event of MASONRY MADNESS™ Day during the World of Concrete and recognized as the masonry industry’s premier bricklaying competition with a total purse estimated at $125,000 that annually awards the title, “World’s Best Bricklayer”. Each year there are a series of preliminary SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Regional Qualifying Events held throughout North America to determine who will compete in the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship. The Championship finale draws as many as 6,000 spectators with thousands of live webcast viewers who tune in to watch this bricklayer battle.

NOTE USE OF TERMS: Please respect all legal trademarks for trade use. In print, the correct way to refer to the competition event is the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® World Championship, and MASONRY MADNESS® or MASONRY MADNESS® Day, case use as shown. The award titles for SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN, and SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER®, should be in all caps followed by the word, “award.” When writing about our corporation the correct way to write our corporate name is SPEC MIX®. If referring to SPEC MIX brand the correct way is SPEC MIX®. The ® mark should always be used on the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500®, and SPEC MIX® the first time either term is used in body copy and always used when either term is in a headline or sub-headline. The same is correct for MASONRY MADNESS® or MASONRY MADNESS® Day.

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