MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Wisconsin high school mascots

By Leland Gordon Dec 10, 2012, 1:19am

The Badger State gives us Oredockers, Trollers, Cubans, Hodags and Old Abes.

Just as important as a school's name and its location is its mascot. Options abound, and some teams go with the commonplace while others go with the truly unique.

In Wisconsin, there are 500 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 16 most popular mascot names in Wisconsin, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

STRAIGHT FROM THE ORE DOCK
Photo courtesy of itiming.com
They load ore onto ships in Ashland at the ore docks. Thus, the school's mascot name is the Oredockers. No other school in America has the Oredockers name, and part of that is because ore docks are most prevalent in the Great Lakes region and nonexistent in most places. Ore is dug up from the land in Wisconsin and northern Michigan and then taken to ore docks so it can be loaded onto large ships. Those ships take the ore to steel mills and other industrial centers in places like Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago. Ashland is strategically located in the far north of Wisconsin right on the shores of Lake Superior.

TROLLERS, NOT TROLLS
Photo courtesy of mascotdb.com
The Bayfield Trollers mascot name has nothing to do with the supernatural being from Norse mythology and it has nothing to do with the little guys who guard bridges. Trollers has nothing to do with trolls, but has everything to do with fishing. A troller is one who trolls, and trolling is "To fish by trailing a lure or baited hook from a moving boat." Bayfield is on the far northern tip of Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Superior, and is a popular boating destination that includes a maritime museum along with plenty of lake-themed outdoor activities.

CUBANS IN WISCONSIN?
Photo courtesy of mascotdb.com
There's no Latin influence when it comes to the Cubans mascot name. It came about because the school is named Cuba City, so it was an easy choice. Cuba City, located in the southwest corner of the state, has a claim to fame in that it is known as the "City of Presidents" because it has a shield on Main Street for every United States president. And that certainly adds a solid amount of irony with the mascot name: The City of (American) Presidents is populated by prep athletes who are Cubans.

HODAGS: FOR REAL OR NOT?
Photo courtesy of Wisconsin DPI
Hodags sounds like it could be one of those mascot names that combines two words into one. Or maybe it's a normal mascot name spelled backwards. Neither. A Hodag is actually a real thing (well, a real word), and it's the mascot name at Rhinelander. According to Roadside America, in 1893 a man reportedly spotted a beast near Rhinelander that was reportedly 200 pounds, 7 feet long and was lizard-like, covered with horns. And three years later, that same man said he cornered it and knocked it out with a choloroform sponge at the end of a pole. He then charged people at the county fair to see the beast, but kept them at a distance in a dark tent. You'll find Hodag references all over town, as it is Rhinelander's claim to fame - an extremely unique one.



NOT LINCOLN HIGH, BUT STILL OLD ABES
Photo courtesy of Eau Claire Area School District
They aren't trying to be elderly Abraham Lincolns at Eau Claire Memorial. They're paying homage to one of the nation's most famous eagles. The Old Abes get their mascot name from a bald eagle that was the mascot for the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Civil War. Old Abe lived for 20 years and actually did get its name from Lincoln. She was carried into battle, and was even shot at Corinth. Confederate troops were instructed to kill the bird but never accomplished that goal. A replica of Old Abe looks over the Wisconsin State Assembly chamber as well.

TOP 16 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Panthers 23
Cardinals 22 (There is 1 Fighting Cardinals)
# Eagles 21 (There are 2 Golden Eagles and 1 Silver Eagles)
# Warriors 17
# Vikings 16
# Tigers 16
# Wildcats 16
# Falcons 12
# Bulldogs 12
# Indians 11
Spartans 11
# Knights 10 (There is 1 Glarner Knights, 1 Golden Knights, 1 Purple Knights and 1 Red Knights)
Hornets 10
Pirates 9
# Trojans 8 (There is 1 Fighting Trojans)
Blackhawks 8 (There is 1 Black Hawks)
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL
Angels
Apaches
Big Red
Bishops
Black Bears
Black Hawks
*Blackshirts
Blue Bombers
*Blue Dukes
Bluebirds
*Blugolds
Braves
Broncos
Buccaneers
Bucks
Buffaloes
*Castle Guards
Challengers
Cheesemakers
Clippers
*Coons
*Crickets
*Crimson Stars
Crimson Tide
*Cubans
Dodgers
Dons
Dragons
Elks
 Fighting Cardinals
*Fighting Kellys
*Fighting Trojans
Firebirds
*Flying Arrows
Flying Dutchmen
Galloping Ghosts
Generals
*Glarner Knights
Golden Bears
Golden Beavers
Golden Knights
*Golden Raiders
*Goslings
*Granite Diggers
Green Devils
*Green Mountain Boys
Hatchets
Highlanders
Hillmen
*Hodags
Hurricanes
*Hustlin' Hawks
*Indees
Irish
Jets
*L-Cats
*Lasers
*Ledgers
Lightning
Loggers
*Logrollers
Macks
Mariners
Marines
*Marshmen
Miners
*Mounders
*Nor'smen
*Norse
Norsemen
*Norskies
Northstars
Oaks
*Old Abes
*Oredockers
Owls
Pacers
Packers
Penguins
Phantoms
Phoenix
Pointers
Polar Bears
Ponies
*Popes
Pumas
Purple Knights
Purple Raiders
Railroaders
Rails
Ramblers
Raptors
Rebels
Red Hawks
Red Knights
*Red Robins
Redcats
Redwings
Regents
*Resorters
*Rivermen
Royals
Sabers
*Ships
Steelers
Storm
Suns
Terrors
Thunder
Thunderhawks
Tritons
*Trollers
Truckers
Vanguards
Whippets
Wizards
* Denotes that no other school in America has that mascot name

MASCOT STATS
Most popular mascot name is used by 4.6 percent of schools.
There are 181 different mascot names for 500 schools.
36 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Wisconsin's Top 16 features 11 of America's Top 15 mascot names.