National high school mascot bracket, Round 1: Vote for Choate Rosemary Hall Wild Boars or Hutto Hippos

Choate Rosemary Hall (Connecticut) is a 2 seed and Hutto (Texas) is a 15 seed in the first round

The Choate Rosemary Hall Wild Boars (Connecticut) take on the Hutto Hippos (Texas) in Round 1. / Graphic by Jesus Baca

The bracket is set for High School on SI's 2025 NCAA Tournament-style contest to determine the best high school mascot in America, and Round 1 is underway.

Vote below for the No. 2-seeded Choate Rosemary Hall Wild Boars (Connecticut) or the No. 15-seeded Hutto Hippos (Texas) to advance to the second round.

The winner will face either the Morse Shipbuilders (Maine) or Clay-Battelle Cee Bees (West Virginia).

The Wild Boars earned a 2 seed as an at-large bid by finishing second in our statewide Connecticut contest with 10,102 votes, while the Hippos won Texas with four votes to earn a 15 seed.

Follow along: National Mascot Tournament 2025 Bracket

Voting for this matchup will conclude Tuesday, March 25, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

High School on SI voting polls are intended to be a fun way to create fan engagement and express support for your favorite high school athletes and teams. Unless expressly noted, there are no awards for winning the voting. Our primary focus is to highlight the abilities and accomplishments of all the athletes and teams included in our poll. You are limited to one vote every 6 hours and are encouraged to share our polls with others.

2. Choate Rosemary Hall Wild Boars (Connecticut)

The year 1995 was a big one for Choate Rosemary Hall — when the school mascot transformed from Judges to Wild Boars. In an Opinion piece published in The Choate News in 1995, teacher Ned Gallagher wrote of his proposal, “This tenacious beast seems a much more suitable symbol for the athletic competition than a jurist. The wild boar is an authentic school tradition that reaches back to the nineteenth century; using it as a mascot would acknowledge the importance of athletics in our school’s heritage.” The student body agreed. 

15. Hutto Hippos (Texas)

Local legend traces the origins of the Hutto hippo to 1915, when a circus train carrying animals stopped to fill up with water. The hippo escaped, walked to Cottonwood Creek and stayed there so long that it delayed the train until its handlers were able to get it out.

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