Best high school mascots in America: 15 most unique nicknames (Stuff Bracket)

Welcome to the 10th of 12 editions in our quest to find the fans' favorite high school sports nickname

Coach Zach Villarrubia (left) and the St. Stanislaus Rock-A-Chaws won the 2022 MHSAA Class 1 boys soccer state championship. (Photo by Tyler Cleveland)

A few weeks ago we began our quest to find the fans' favorite high school sports nickname in the country.

We split up our favorite names by category with 15 entries each, and our first of 12 editions was the Jobs Bracket, followed by the Animals Bracket and then the Mythical Creatures Bracket.

Week 2 stuck to an academic theme with the Historical Figures Bracket, followed by the Geography Bracket and finally the Science Bracket.

Week 3 started with the Food Bracket, followed by the Action Bracket and then the Pun Bracket.

Vote now: Which high school has the best mascot in America? (Food Bracket)

Vote now: Which high school has the best mascot in America? (Action Bracket)

Vote now: Which high school has the best mascot in America? (Pun Bracket)

Now we kick off the final week of the opening round with the highfalutin Stuff Bracket. Check scorebooklive.com tomorrow for a poll to vote on your favorite.

St. Stanislaus Rock-a-Chaws (Mississippi)

Rock-a-Chaw comes from an old Choctaw word meaning “devil grass,” and it refers to the pesky little sand burrs that abounded on the St. Stanislaus campus before the lawns were cultivated.

Crooksville Ceramics (Ohio)

The Crooksville China Company was established in 1902 in Crooksville, Ohio, which became known as the pottery capital of the world in the early 20th century. Hence, the Crooksville Ceramics.

Fishburne Military Caissons (Virginia)

The Caissons are named for the “usually 2-wheeled vehicle for artillery ammunition attachable to a horse-drawn limber,” according to Merriam-Webster. Fishburne Military can probably rest easy that the nickname is all theirs at this point.

Roxana Shells (Illinois)

Originally named for the Shell Oil refinery that opened in town in 1918, Roxana is still called the Shells despite Phillips 66’s acquisition of the refinery in the early 2000s.

Central Catholic Buttons (Texas)

This San Antonio school’s nickname is tougher than it sounds. These Buttons are the hard, round protrusions found anterior to the rattles of the rattlesnake. 

Bonanza Antlers (Oregon)

One surefire way to become inclusive of all antlered species is to just call yourself the Antlers rather than the Moose, Elks, Antelopes, etc.

Edgemont Moguls (South Dakota)

Was a major media mogul born in Edgemont? Is there a man-made mountain resort in Edgemont with excellent skier-made moguls? No and no. A Mogul railroad steam engine, common on late 19th century American railroads, had the wheel arrangement of 2-6-0, meaning 2 leading wheels, 6 driver wheels and no trailing wheels. The Mogul 2-6-0 was known for its strength, as is Edgemont.

Speedway Sparkplugs (Indiana)

Located near Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it seems a given that Speedway High School had to pick a racecar-themed nickname. The choice is perfect for sports, and they’re the only high school Sparkplugs in the country.

Teutopolis Wooden Shoes (Illinois)

The Wooden Shoes got their name from a basketball coach in the 1930s. He wanted to honor the town's German heritage and the lone cobbler in town by calling the Teutopolis teams the Wooden Shoes, and it's stuck ever since. The school's logo is a large T with a wooden shoe crossing it.

Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms (Minnesota)

The Awesome Blossoms are no stranger to winning athletic or mascot competitions. Blooming Prairie has been the Blossoms since the early 1900s, and they added an "Awesome" in the '60s.

Bad Axe Hatchets (Michigan)

The town has been known as Bad Axe since the late 1800s, named by a military surveyor who found a broken ax embedded in a tree. What better complement to Bad Axe than a hatchet?

Lanier Voks (Texas)

A Vok is a gear emblem that symbolizes a smaller part of a big machine. According to the school’s Wikipedia page, “the Vok represents an essential gear that would not function without support from its integral whole, therefore analogous to a vocational student entering society and the workforce.” 

Newell Irrigators (South Dakota)

Yes, this is the only high school in the country with a nickname honoring mechanical farming devices used to water crops and fields.

Shoals Jug Rox (Indiana)

Jug Rock, also known as mushroom rock, is a natural sandstone formation near Shoals that’s distinctive enough to be turned into a mascot. That mascot, by the way, is called “Roxer Boxer.”

Bowling Green Purples (Kentucky)

Bowling Green’s colors are purple, gold and white, but the PurpleGoldandWhites would have been a mouthful. Tidying it up to the Purples was a solid move.