Best high school mascot in Maryland: Top 10 candidates

From Campers to Crabbers to Obezags, meet the best high school mascots in Maryland

Maryland is the only state in the U.S. that's been invaded by Mawrtians.

And they want to know just one thing: What the heck is an Obezag?

SBLive Sports' love for unique mascots with interesting back stories has been well documented.

We've crowned Hodags and Imps the past couple of years in national high school mascot contests, and now we're taking a spin through every state.

Over the next couple of months we'll go from Alabama through Wyoming featuring each state's best high school mascots, and then give readers a chance to vote for their favorite. Our Maryland poll will post Oct. 24 on highschool.si.com and stay open through Oct. 31.

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Maryland?

Here are the top 10 high school mascots in Maryland:

Allegany Campers

“Camp Hill,” the site of the present-day Allegany, was a federal army camp during the Civil War, and Allegany High School honors that history by calling themselves the Campers.

Bryn Mawr Mawrtians

Michigan has the only Martians in the country among U.S. high schools, and Bryn Mawr has the only Mawrtians. Mascot pride is brimming at the nearly 140-year-old school.

Crisfield Crabbers

Known as "the Seafood Capital of the World," the city of Crisfield has a giant crab on its welcoming water tower. The Crisfield Crabbers were a minor league baseball team in the 1920s and '30s, and the high school decided to keep the name alive.

Forest Park Foresters

No, Forest Park's mascot isn't a Subaru. It's a bearded burly guy wearing a beanie and swinging a mean ax. Notable past Foresters are Mama Cass Elliot and former Vice President Spiro Agnew.

International High School at Largo Sea Turtles

This unique school with a unique mascot started in 2015 with 100 ninth-graders, and it’s grown by 100 students each year since. The only requirement to apply to become a Sea Turtle is that English is not your first language.

Key Obezags

When the property on which the school was built was donated, it was filled with gazebos. The students voted and decided to spell gazebo backwards as their nickname. Not surprisingly, they’re the only Obezags in the country.

North Hagerstown Hubs

North Hagerstown went from one interesting mascot to another, switching from Little Heiskell to Hub. The new name stems from the historical and geographical location of Hagerstown at the intersection of waterways, railroads and interstate highways. Little Heiskell, named for German tinsmith Benjamin Heiskell, is an iconic weathervane in Hagerstown.

Sandy Spring Friends Wildebeests

Not only are these the only Wildebeests among U.S. high schools, they have a fantastic back story. From the school website: "The Wildebeest was a character from an original operetta written by former music teacher Bryan Seith and performed by SSFS students during the school’s early years. At some point after the production, a student thought it would be funny to bring the Wildebeest costume head to an SSFS game to cheer on the team, and eventually SSFS adapted the wildebeest as our School mascot!"

Wilde Lake Wildecats

The most clever use of the letter E in high school sports history resulted in Wilde Lake having a deceptively unique mascot. There are 743 U.S. high schools that call themselves the Wildcats, and there's only one Wildecats.

Worcester Prep Fighting Mallards

These aren't just any ducks, they're Mallards. And they aren't just any Mallards — they're Fighting Mallards.

(Wildebeest photo by Andres Leiva/Palm Beach Post/USA Today Network)

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports