Brian Tuttle Wins Utah’s SPEC MIX Bricklayer 500 Regional Competition!

Brian Tuttle takes first place and claims the “Utah’s Best Bricklayer” title!

It was August 4th, 2023, at Interstate Brick, in West Jordan, Utah, where mason Brian Tuttle, and tender Scott Tuttle with Quik Trowell took first-place at the SMBL500 Utah Regional event. This duo has competed in the regionals, and advanced to the national event in Las Vegas many times before. They are no stranger to the trade; at the 2023 Nationals earlier this year, Scott and Brian Tuttle took second place, with Scott working as the mason and Brian as the tender. With last year’s victory just out of reach, we can only imagine that their goal for the 2024 SMBL500 competition is to take home the first-place trophy, the “World’s Best Bricklayer” title, and many other prizes. Will the Tuttle team take it all the way this year? You can find out at the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® Championship on January 24th, 2024, in Las Vegas, NV, at the World of Concrete Tradeshow! 

The Tuttle team laid a whopping 645 brick during the Utah Regional competition, snagging them the top spot and two tickets to Vegas. The first two competitions for our 2023 regional series have started off strong in both the Utah, and Ohio regional events, the first-place winners laid exactly 645 bricks. The Tuttle duo won the “Utah’s Best Bricklayer” title, $650 in cash, a 2-foot Stabila Level, and a Marshalltown trowel and tool bag. 

The 2023 Regional Series includes 23 events throughout the United States and Canada. To qualify for the SMBL500 event in Las Vegas, teams will compete at one of the 23 individual regionals and battle for first place to secure their spot in the national competition. The teams consist of one mason and one tender; working on a 26-foot-wide wall, they have 60 minutes to lay as much brick as possible with the fewest craftsmanship errors. These teams are only allowed to compete once at one regional event throughout the year, and each duo that wins first place will advance to what is known as the “Superbowl of Masonry.” At the World Championship, they will compete to win part of $125,000 in cash in prizes, including a Kubota RTV-X1140, Essick Pro12 mixer, and of course, the title, “World’s Best Bricklayer.”

The Top Craftsman and second-place winner for the Utah Regional event was mason Erick Speer and tender Joel Johnson with AK Masonry. They laid 551 bricks during the 60-minute competition, and for their efforts, they won $400 for the Top Craftsman award and $600 for the second-place award, making their total $1,000 in cold hard cash! On top of the cash, this team won a 2-foot Stabila Level and a Marshalltown tool bag and Trowel. Although they did not take the first-place position at the Utah Regional, they are not down for the count. By the end of the regional season, if their brick count of 551 is the highest number of bricks laid amongst all the other Top Craftsman, they will get their shot to compete in Vegas. Lastly, in third place at the Utah Regional event was mason Jesus Lopez and tender Miguel Lopez with Elevated Masonry. They finished with a total brick count of 320, and for their efforts they won $500 in cash, a 2-foot Stabila Level, and a Marshalltown tool bag.

Disclosures:

In 2019, the SPEC MIX organization partnered with other masonry associations to create the JR. SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Competition. In 2024, of the 22 Regional Series competitions, 20 will also hold a JR. BRICKLAYER 500 contest to allow high schoolers and masonry apprentices to compete for top honors and prizes. The program has proven remarkably successful and highly supported by the Mason Contractors Association of America, school administrators, and numerous masonry supply manufacturers and dealers. To learn more, visit https://www.specmix.com/jr-spec-mix-bricklayer-500/.

2025 World Championship: If you are interested in becoming a fan, the 23rd annual SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship will take place in January 2025, at the World of Concrete tradeshow in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Las Vegas Convention Center Bronze Lot. At this competition, world-class masons lay it all on the line to claim their portion of the total purse valued at more than $125,000.

2023 JOURNEYMEN SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 UTAH REGIONAL RESULTS