(Shoshoni, WY) – In March 2020, County 10 hosted the first ever Fremont County Mascot Challenge. Every local high school and Central Wyoming College were eligible to compete for the title of “mascot of the year.”
After tens of thousands of votes – yes really. And specifically over 31,000 votes in the championship round. The Shoshoni Wranglers were crowned champions.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 threw a bit of a wrench into our plans soon after they won. County 10 quietly presented the first ever Mascot Challenge plaque to Shoshoni High School Principal Christina Mills and Superintendent Bruce Thoren where it was placed in the school’s trophy case. We had hoped to incorporate the community and school a bit more, but the pandemic shut down our plans. We hope that changes this time around!
This week, we returned to take the traveling trophy back to our office and meet with Principal Mills. Christina told us that both staff and students have adjusted well to pandemic-school life, “everyone’s stepping up to the challenges right now. We’ve been keeping kids safe and keeping our doors open has been amazing. It’s been a stressful year for everyone, but everyone’s stepped up.”
Mills said that she thinks school spirit remains high among her students as we prepare for year two of the Mascot Challenge, “it will be interesting to see how people respond, they were excited about the first year because we’re a small school in a small town. We did a lot of promotion at school during the day. We’d do announcements to get on and vote. During lunch, kids had their laptops out and were voting. Our students are very committed to our school. It was pretty remarkable.”
First round voting for Mascot Challenge year two begins Tuesday, February 23rd.
While the Wranglers look to defend their crown, the Rams, Panthers, Tigers, Wolverines, Cougars, Chiefs, Phoenix, Warriors, Rustlers, St. Stephens Eagles, and Fort Washakie Eagles hope to claim the title in 2021.