MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Ohio 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 Ohio, there are 853 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Ohio, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

CRASHING INTO A MASCOT NAME
At Shenandoah (Sarahsville), they honor a local claim to national history, though it's not like most other mascot names of the same origin. The Zeps are named for a specific Zeppelin (blimp) and that specific zeppelin was most famous for crashing near Sarahsville. The USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) fell apart in a storm over Ohio in 1925, and at least 14 men died in the incident. It's Noble County's claim to fame, and it's the school's unconventional mascot name, as there are no other zeps or zeppelins.

MARSHALL MASCOT MANIA
In previous Mascot Monday segments, we have referred to John Marshall, considered by many to be one of the most influential Chief Justices of the United States Supreme court. We have another mascot name to attach to Marshall: the Lawyers. John Marshall (Cleveland) honors Marshall with its mascot name, and you won't find any other Lawyers in the nation. Marshall may not get the celebrity treatment from people this days, but it's hard to find a jurist with a more influential tenure on the bench.

HOPE THEY'RE TOUGHER THAN THEIR MASCOT NAME
Ceramics are pretty much guaranteed to break if you smack into them. Hopefully the athletes at Crooksville hold it together better. The Ceramics get their mascot name from the village's primary industry: Clay pottery and ceramics. The home to Hull Pottery, Crooksville takes pride in its hometown company and the school mascot reflects that. You definitely won't find Ceramics at any other school in the nation.

ENDS WITH AN M, NOT AN S
A seldom-used theme in mascot names is to not end with an S. So we're giving kudos to Fuchs Mizrachi (University Heights) for going with Mayhem. It's a unique choice, and the likely reason is that mayhem has three definitions, and two are certainly ones you would want to avoid when choosing a school mascot: maiming or crippling intentionally, or inflicting violent injury. Let's go with "a state of violent disorder or riotous confusion; havoc" as the best choice. And they did a good job of finding an appropriate logo, with a tornado-like mascot image.

A SHOCKING CHOICE
The small school of Philo (Duncan Falls) wins by zapping its opponents. It can be hard to find the reason why the school chose to go by Electrics, but the most likely reason has to do with a power plant that was built in the area in the 1920s. It's not surprising that they have a lightning bolt in the logo image, and it shouldn't also be a surprise that the school newspaper is reportedly "The Electrific."

TOP 15 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Eagles 40 (There are 6 Golden Eagles and 1 Fighting Eagles)
# Panthers 36 (There is 1 Golden Panthers)
# Tigers 35 (There is 1 Black Tigers, 1 Fighting Tigers and 1 Tygers)
# Wildcats 34
# Bulldogs 31
# Warriors 27
# Indians 24
# Vikings 18
# Falcons 17
# Trojans 16
Cardinals 15
# Lions 15 (There is 1 Blue Lions and 1 Golden Lions)
Spartans 15
Blue Devils 14 (There are 7 Red Devils, 2 Green Devils and 1 Devils)
Rams 14
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

76ers Ambassadors Apaches Archers *Arcs Astros Avengers Badgers *Battling Bees Bengals Big Blue Big Green Big Reds Bishops Black Bears *Black Tigers Blackbirds Blackhawks *Blue Aces Blue Jackets Blue Jays *Blue Lions Buccaneers *Buccs Buckeyes Celtics *Ceramics *Chipps Commodores Conquerors *Crimson Flashes *Crimson Streaks Cruisers Cubs

Demons Devils *Electrics Elks *Executives Explorers Fighting  Crusaders Fighting Eagles *Fighting Herald Fighting Owls Fighting Scots Fighting Tigers Fliers *Freddies Friars *G-men Gators *Golden Angels Golden Flashes *Golden Gales Golden Gophers Golden Knights Golden Lions Golden Panthers *Golden Rockets *Green Bears *Greenmen Grizzlies Guardians Heat Highlanders *Hillclimbers Hilltoppers

*Huntsmen Hurricane Invaders Jeeps Johnnies *Lawyers Little Giants *Little Muskies Locomotives Longhorns Lumberjacks *Magics Marauders *Mayhem Meteors Monarchs Mounties Musketeers *Nubians Oaks Orangemen Pacers Pointers Potters *Preppers Presidents Punchers Purple Riders Ravens Red Dragons Red Knights Red Riders Redbirds *Redstreaks

Rough Riders Rovers *Runnin Wolves Sabres Sailors Saints Scarabs Scots Scotties Seminoles Senecas Sharks *Shermans *Shoremen Skippers Skyhawks *Smithies Stallions Stingers *Stockaders *Tarblooders Tartans *The Phoenix Thunder Thunderbirds Thunderbolts Thunderhawks Tomcats Truckers *Tygers Warhawks Whippets *Zeps

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

MASCOT STATS
Most popular mascot name is used by 4.7 percent of schools.
There are 235 different mascot names for 853 schools.
38 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Ohio's Top 15 features 11 of America's Top 15 mascot names.