Cole Stamper wins "Super Bowl of Masonry!"

Ohio native Cole Stamper (above left) took home top honors at the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® World Championship, while Darian Douthit won SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN® Award.

Ohio mason Cole Stamper made history at the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® World Championship by winning the 2025 Spec Mix Bricklayer 500 for 2025. The brother duo of Cole and Forest Stamper laid 738 bricks in one hour to claim the title, “World’s Best Bricklayer,” and Cole is now the proud owner of a new Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4x4 truck, an Essick Pro12 Mixer and thousands more in additional cash and prizes. When asked what it was like hearing his name called as the new champion, Cole stated, “It was awesome of course! It doesn’t get old. Even as they were announcing the other places, I wasn’t sure if I had it. It was that close between everyone. But it’s a great feeling.”

Marking the event’s 23rd anniversary, SPEC MIX, LLC®, hosted the world’s largest and most prestigious masonry competition, the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500®. This action-packed bricklaying battle took place on Wednesday, January 22, 2024, at the World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. For sixty-minutes, the Stampers battled against 26 other masons and tenders from across North America, the United Kingdom and Australia to lay as many bricks as they could with as few craftsmanship errors as possible. The champion team working together like a finely tuned machine, proved the competition is a true test of human skill, speed and stamina designed to determine the best craftsman in the masonry industry.

The event’s second most coveted award, the SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN®, went to Darian Douthit and mason tender Trapper Reeves who laid 511 bricks. Darian has competed in many of the SMBL500 competitions in years past, and this year he proved he laid it all on the line to win this award. Second place was mason Michael Schlund, and mason tender, Aaron Kowalski laying 734 bricks. Michael is no stranger to the competition, as he was the back-to-back champion the previous two years. Will he come back and take it all next year?

Third place was Luis Martinez, and Roberto Campuzano with Brazos Masonry out of Waco, Texas, with a brick count of 727. The TOUGHEST TENDER® award went to Mike McCarrick, with Langeraap Masonry out of Spartan, New Jersey. His winning time was 14 minutes and 26 seconds. The TOUGHEST TENDER is a preliminary competition where the tenders are timed as they set up the workstations for the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500.

Celebrating the event’s 23rd anniversary, SPEC MIX, LLC®, hosted the world’s largest and most prestigious masonry competition, the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500®. This action-packed bricklaying battle took place on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at the World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. For sixty minutes, masons and tenders from across North America battled to lay as many bricks as they could, with as few errors as possible. Both working together like a finely tuned machine, it’s a true test of human skill, speed and stamina designed to determine the best craftsman in the masonry industry.

To reach the championship, 27 regional competitions were held across North America, as hundreds of world-class masons competed to qualify for a spot on the event’s grand finale roster. “We created this competition in 2003 to highlight the incredible skill and pride that bricklayers all over the world dedicate every day to the projects they build. Now it’s the masonry industry’s most celebrated annual event that gains more popularity each year and becomes the top recruiting tool for the next generation of skilled masons. We are thankful to have so many great sponsors and industry partners to help us highlight masonry as a solid, rewarding career choice,” said SPEC MIX Vice President, Brian Carney.

If you have any further questions, or would like to set up an interview with any of the winning competitors, please contact Derek Bloch by email at derek.bloch@specmix.com or Jeff Farmakes by email at Jeff.Farmakes@specmix.com.

About SPEC MIX, LLC®

SPEC MIX is your national source for high quality, factory produced mortars and grouts that are preblended for the construction industry. SPEC MIX LLC. products are precisely engineered to meet ASTM and building code requirements. Projects designed for the installation of brick, CMU, stone, stucco or building repair and restoration, SPEC MIX offers a full line of products packaged in 80 & 3,000-pound bags produced with state-of-the-art batching equipment to ensure quality and consistency from start to finish. For optimal jobsite efficiency, safety and productivity, we provide contractors with numerous silo material mixing systems that maximize a contractor's cost savings, safety and profitability. For more information, visit www.specmix.com.