EAST TENNESSEE REGIONAL SERIES

Manuel Hernandez Named “East Tennessee’s Best Bricklayer”

Gray, TN – The best masons in East Tennessee 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 event is one of several SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® Regional Series competitions to be held across North America in 2020. The winner of each regional qualifies to compete in the 2021 World Championship at the World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas.

Seven teams of masons and tenders lined the arena at the Appalachian Fairgrounds in Gray, TN ready to prove they’re the best craftsmen in the region. Mason Manuel Hernandez and mason tender Jose Perez with Creative Masonry in Greeneville, TN took home top honors with an adjusted brick count of 518. Hernandez also took the title, SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN, which goes to the mason who built the “most sellable” wall. In total, Hernandez and Perez won a free trip to Las Vegas for the World Championship, $550 in cash, a $200 gift card from Ford Trucks, a Marshalltown tool bag, Stabila Level and the title, “East Tennessee’s Best Bricklayer.” 

Before the main event, four teams comprised of mason apprentices battled in an abbreviated version of the journeyman competition known as the JR. SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500. 3rd generation mason Josh Jones and his mason tender Jake Jones narrowly defeated the field with a brick count of 175, taking home a cash prize of $200.

2020 EAST TENNESSEE REGIONAL SERIES PHOTOS

2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series
2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 East Tennessee Regional Series

2020 EAST TENNESSEE REGIONAL RESULTS

FIRST PLACE AND TOP CRAFTSMAN

MASON

Manuel Hernandez

TENDER

Jose Perez

COMPANY

Creative Masonry
Greeneville, TN

BRICK COUNT

518

PRIZE AMOUNT

$550 – Plus $200 from FORD

2ND PLACE

MASON

Jason Peek

TENDER

Pedro Sanchez

COMPANY

Peek Masonry
Church Hill, TN

BRICK COUNT

437

PRIZE AMOUNT

$250

3RD PLACE

MASON

Howard Coleman

TENDER

Paul Crigger

COMPANY

All About Masonry
Watauga, TN

BRICK COUNT

314

PRIZE AMOUNT

$150

2020 EAST TENNESSEE JR. BRICKLAYER RESULTS

FIRST PLACE

MASON

Josh Jones

TENDER

Jake Jones

COMPANY

3rd Generation Masons
East Tennessee

BRICK COUNT

175

PRIZE AMOUNT

$200

2ND PLACE

MASON

Logan Lane

TENDER

Cruzz Delone

COMPANY

Creative Masonry
Greeneville, TN

BRICK COUNT

166

PRIZE AMOUNT

$150

3RD PLACE (TIE)

MASON

Kendra Campbell

TENDER

Fred Campbell

COMPANY

Creative Masonry
Greeneville, TN

BRICK COUNT

146

PRIZE AMOUNT

$100

3RD PLACE (TIE)

MASON

David Hernandez

TENDER

Adan Valdivia

COMPANY

Creative Masonry
Greeneville, TN

BRICK COUNT

146

PRIZE AMOUNT

$100

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.

If any of these title terms are used for mass media news or editorial use, we ask that the full term be used at least once at the beginning of the article, thereafter, “event or competition” would be acceptable terms. Please do not cut, rename or edit the legal trademarked name of the event so as to maintain the legal brand name and its integrity.