This is round two for the Payne brothers in Las Vegas. The duo qualified last year in their first ever attempt, laying 638 perfect brick in the Missouri Regional. They quickly discovered that in order to be a contender at the World Championship, they need to step up their game. This year the Payne brothers blew out the local competition again, laying 692 brick, a much more respectable number on the national stage. Their secret was practice and the lessons they learned in Las Vegas.

This year they are coming in with a more precise game plan, J.T. said, “We are going to focus more on quality this year, we had too many deductions to do any good last year.”

26-year-old J.T Payne and his wife are raising 3 kids, all under the age of eight. J.T. works for his grandparent’s commercial masonry contracting company, Foeste Masonry in Cape Girardeau, MO.