MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: North Dakota 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 North Dakota, there are 158 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 17 most popular mascot names in North Dakota, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

BIGGEST HOLSTEIN, ONLY HOLSTEINS
Just take a look at Salem Sue to find out why New Salem chose Holsteins as its mascot. Salem Sue is the world's largest holstein cow, according to The Real North Dakota Project, a massive sculpture that is 38 feet tall and 50 feet wide and can be seen from about five miles away. The Holstein Circuit played a pivotal role in New Salem's history, as the industry of breeding the dairy cows with black and white markings turned into a huge success and fueled the local economy. You won't find Holsteins anywhere else in America when it comes to mascot names.

THIS AIN'T SESAME STREET
Oak Grove Lutheran (Fargo) should be a Sesame Street lover's favorite school. The campus doesn't resemble the set for the children's show, and furry characters definitely don't wander around. But they are called the Grovers, and some could easily think that is paying tribute to the red-nosed blue furry character from the show. In actuality, it's just a play on the school's name, which is located right next to Oak Grove Park on the North Dakota-Minnesota border.

A SWEET COLLISION OF WORDS
Sometimes combining two schools can make for an odd combination of mascot names. It worked out perfect for co-op program Munich/Starkweather (Munich). Starkweather is the Storm Kings and Munich is the Magicians, and calling a team the Storm Magicians just sounds too weird. The Magic Storm sounds like something a wizard would throw upon unsuspecting enemies, or it could be something that transforms the North Dakota landscape as it rolls through.

ALWAYS SPOILING IT FOR OTHER TEAMS
Grafton always gets to play spoiler, even if it's the favorite to win a title. According to Marc's Distinctive High School Mascot Collection, the name originated in the 1930s when the school's boys basketball team was an underdog but manage to beat a larger school to win the state tournament. They certainly spoiled that school's season, and the name has stuck since then.

SURPRISINGLY NOT FRENCH
It's a school with a serious Napoleon complex. It's also a royal school. Well, if you go by the mascot name, it is. Napoleon goes by the Imperials, a tribute to Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military and political leader. While it is a great school name-mascot combo, the town's name actually has nothing to do with the infamous (or famous) Napoleon. According to the napoleonnd.com website, the town was named after Napoleon Goodsill, one of the town's earliest settlers.

TOP 17 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
#Eagles 6
#Raiders 6
Titans 6
#Wildcats 6
Cardinals 5
#Warriors 5
#Knights 4 (There is 1 Blue Knights)
Spartans 4
Braves 4
#Bulldogs 3
Rebels 3
#Lions 3
#Tigers 3
Miners 3
#Panthers 3
Pirates 3
Comets 3
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

Aces Badgers Bantams Bears Black Devils Blue Jays Blue Knights Bobcats Bombers Broncos Bruins Buccaneers Burros Cadets Clippers Colts

Cossacks Cougars Cowboys Crusaders Deacons Demons Dragons Flyers *Grovers *Hi-Liners *Holsteins Honkers Hornets Huskies *Imperials Indians

Jaguars Lakers Loboes *Magic Storm Magicians Maroons Mavericks Midgets Monarchs Packers Polar Bears Ranchers Rangers *Ray Jays Rockets Roughriders

Saints Sioux Skyhawks *Spoilers Squirrels Thunder Tommies Trojans Troopers Valiants Vikings Warbirds *Wildfire Wolverines Wolves *Woodchucks

* Denotes that no other school in America has that mascot name

MASCOT STATS
Most popular mascot name is used by 3.8 percent of schools.
There are 90 different mascot names for 158 schools.
Nine schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
North Dakota's Top 17 features nine of America's Top 15 mascot names.