MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Wisconsin high school mascots

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
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
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?
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?
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
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.