National high school mascot bracket, Sweet 16: Vote for East Union Urchins or Wilde Lake Wildecats

East Union (Mississippi) is a 1 seed and Wilde Lake (Maryland) is a 4 seed in High School On SI's NCAA Tournament-style contest

Mike Swanson | Apr 4, 2025

The East Union Urchins (Mississippi) take on the Wilde Lake Wildecats (Maryland) in the Sweet 16 of our national high school mascot bracket. / Graphic by Jesus Baca

March Madness has turned to April Sweetness in High School on SI's 2025 NCAA Tournament-style bracket to crown the best high school mascot in America.

Complete national high school mascot bracket

Vote below for the No. 1-seeded East Union Urchins (Mississippi) or the No. 4-seeded Wilde Lake Wildecats (Maryland) to advance beyond the Sweet 16.

The winner will face either the William Allen Canaries (Pennsylvania) or Center Point-Urbana Stormin' Pointers (Iowa) in the Elite 8.

The Urchins beat the Lingle-Fort Laramie Doggers (Wyoming) in Round 1 and Dayton Dust Devils (Nevada) in Round 2.

The Wildecats beat the Keene Blackbirds (New Hampshire) in Round 1 and the Ord Chanticleers (Nebraska) in Round 2.

Voting for this matchup will conclude Friday, April 11, 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.

1. East Union Urchins (Mississippi)

Formerly called the Epic Urchins, East Union's mascot comes from Greek mythology, where the god of the sea had daughters who rode seahorses. This is why the East Union logo boasts a seahorse rather than a sea urchin.

4. Wilde Lake Wildecats (Maryland)

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.

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Published Apr 4, 2025

MIKE SWANSON

Mike Swanson is the VP of Content for High School On SI. He's been in journalism since 2003, having worked as a reporter, city editor, copy editor and high school sports editor in California, Connecticut and Oregon.