Take a look behind the scenes to meet Maine high school mascots

By Matt Junker, Bangor Daily News Sports Editor

Foreign exchange students. Cheerleaders. Seventh graders. 

No, that’s not a random list. Those are some of the students serving as team mascots during the Maine high school basketball tournament.

The tournament atmosphere at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor is unrivaled in Maine high school sports, and the mascots are an undisputed part of the energy. 

As their school’s basketball teams battle it out on the court, the mascots are there to help pump up the crowd and amplify the support during the postseason — when every game and every play matters. 

But like any good mascot, these eagles and ponies, bulldogs and wolves are simultaneously in the limelight but also in the background. Everybody sees the mascots, but very few people know who they are.

So we thought it would be fun to get to know them a little bit. The Bangor Daily News interviews a few of the high school mascots during the ongoing tournament to find out what it’s really like under those masks. 

And as it turns out, it’s not always an easy job, but it’s a fun one. 

Levi Holmes is only a seventh grader, but he has spent this season as the Machias Memorial High School Bulldog.

“It’s awesome,” Holmes said. “I love doing it.”

He enjoys dancing around to get both the team and the fans hyped up. Though jumping around in the Bulldog suit certainly comes with its challenges. 

“It’s hot,” Holmes said. “It’s fun though.”

The heat is a common complaint. 

Freshman Joe Grego, in his first basketball season as the Eagle for George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill, is having a great time so far. But he does wish that the motorized fan in the costume’s head would actually work. 

“I love being inside this thing. It’s definitely hot, but either way, it’s worth the blood, sweat and tears,” Grego said. 

After the heat, Grego said the next biggest challenge lies in keeping the fans engaged during a game. 

“I’d probably say the second hardest part is trying to figure out how to motivate everyone,” Grego added. 

Grego has about eight games under his belt so far. 

“So I’m just trying to learn how to pump people up more,” Grego said.

And what does he do to take a break and cool off?

“I just go to a place where most people can’t see me, and then I take it off, get a little whiff of fresh air, maybe a drink of water or something, and then I’m back out at the game,” Grego explained. 

The new Howler costume for Penobscot Valley of Howland is hot enough that two cheerleaders have to take turns wearing it so that they don’t overheat.

Cheer coach Macy Davis explained that two members of the cheer squad, Natalie Simon and Kaylyn Martin, have been splitting the Howler mascot responsibilities. That new costume was a gift from last year’s Penobscot Valley graduating class, Davis said. 

“I was nervous at first, but they are loving it,” she said about her team members taking on the new role. “And it’s funny too, because they can join in too on all the cheers and the dances, and they know all of it. And they’re having fun.”

Simon said that she has been cheering for a while, and the mascot role is something different.  

“It’s kind of scary, but it’s honestly fun,” Simon said. “I like it.”

Martin said it has been awesome donning the Howler costume, something she just started this week during the tournament. 

“I feel like I can just really be myself as the mascot, and people won’t really know who I am,” Martin said. 

And the key to keeping the crowd energized? 

“You just really have to move, I guess,” she said. “Get into it.”

Perhaps the most unlikely mascot that we spoke to at the Cross Center was Simon Turzik, an exchange student from Sweden who debuted this week as the Foxcroft Academy Pony. 

He didn’t watch much basketball growing up in Sweden, but he’s having fun being part of the Maine high school basketball tournament. 

“The level is higher than in Sweden for youth,” Turzik said. “I think it’s been fun, both boys and girls.”

His biggest complaint, even about the heat, is the visibility. 

“That’s the biggest challenge,” he said about the limited view out of the Pony’s head. “I can only follow the ball.”

Turzik made his first appearance as the Pony earlier this week when the Foxcroft boys played Washington Academy, and he was back for round two Thursday night as the girls took on George Stevens. 

The basketball tournament may be a new atmosphere for him, but that’s why he’s here. 

“That’s part of being here. You don’t want to be stuck in old ways,” Turzik said. You want to be part of the culture, too.” 

And make no mistake, the high school basketball tournament is a cultural mainstay around here.