Mike Schlund Named ‘Wisconsin’s’ Best Bricklayer’
Menasha, WI – The 2018 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® Regional Competition for Wisconsin was held at Miron Construction, in Menasha, WI on Thursday, September 27th. Ten teams of brick masons and tenders vied for a competition spot in the 2019 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship Competition held in Las Vegas, Nevada on Jan. 23, 2019 during the World of Concrete. The qualifying national competitors will battle for a chance to win over $125,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ford F250 XLT 4X4 truck and John Deere Gator.
The Wisconsin event drew very skilled bricklayers and the battle was fierce, but in the end Mike Schlund, a mason with Kowalski Masonry, Wausau WI, and his mason tender Joe Sautner, edged out the rest of the competition to take home first place. His net count of 407 brick earned him the opportunity to compete in the 2018 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 in Las Vegas as well as $650 in cash.
The SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN Award went to Roman Graebel and his mason tender Greg Korslin of Miron Construction, Neenah WI earning him $650 cash for Top Craftsman.
Second place went to mason Kyle Spensly and his mason tender Tim Pavlekovich of JP Cullen, Janesville WI with a brick count of 388, taking home a prize of $400. Third place went to mason Cory Firkus and his mason tender Rob Wangen of Firkus Masonry, Stevens Point WI with a brick count of 370 brick taking home a prize of $300.
Overall Turnout was great, and the “Mentor a Mason” special event was a big hit. Eight different high school students also competed to see who the title, “Junior Wisconsin SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Champion!”
2018 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® Wisconsin Regional Final Results:
Mason – Michael Schlund – 407 Brick
Tender – Joe Sautner
Kowalski Masonry, Wausau, WI
SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN:
Mason – Roman Graebel – 346 Brick
Tender – Greg Korslin
Miron Construction, Neenah, WI
Mason – Kyle Spensly – 388 Brick
Tender – Tim Pavlekovich
JP Cullen, Janesville, WI
3rd Place:
Mason – Cory Firkus – 370 Brick
Tender – Rob Wangen
Firkus, Stevens Point, WI
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 4,000 spectators with thousands of live webcast viewers who tune in to watch this bricklayer battle.
More about SPEC MIX®: SPEC MIX is the construction industry’s national source for high quality; factory preblended cement-based building products for the construction industry. With more than 60 manufacturing facilities in all major markets across the US and Canada, SPEC MIX production plants utilize state of the art batching equipment and the finest materials to ensure total quality control throughout your project. SPEC MIX offers a deep line of masonry mortars and grouts, stucco and industrial products including various patented silo systems to maximize a contractor’s productivity and safety. The mission of SPEC MIX is to keep your jobsite team going, moving and working safely—all day, every day.
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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