Before Blizzard T. Husky became Michigan Tech’s official mascot in the late 1990s, there were several iterations of the Husky mascot.
What are your memories of Tech’s mascot? Tell us below!
Bill ’71 and Kathy ’71 Wassberg were the first students to put on a mascot suit. They came up with the idea to hold a reunion for all mascot students during Alumni Reunion on campus August 4-6, 2022.
Did you or someone you know put on the mascot suit for Michigan Tech? We’d love to connect with you. Email us at alumni@mtu.edu.
October 23, 2004 Tech was taking on Ferris State in football in Big Rapids. This was the Tech band’s away trip for football that year. The band made up a banner on a large sheet that said “FSU — Feeling Sad and Unemployed”. The band members paraded the banner around the running track and when they got to the home side of the stadium, they did not get a very warm welcoming! They proceeded round the track and got to the home student section which was pretty full. That is when the boos got really loud and several of the FSU students left the bleachers. Blizzard, who was trailing along with the band, got grabbed and they escorted him to the goal post. The FSU students then began duct taping him to the goal post. They got him pretty well secured to the post when FSU security stepped in and set Blizzard free. I don’t recall the game being stopped as the play was on the other end of the field. Tech won the game to keep their undefeated season in tact.
I was an MTU cheerleader for 2 years 81/82 and 82/83. Toward the end of my second year I started wearing the “Bear” mascot costume for hockey games (wearing black figure skates!) and then the following year adding football and basketball games. During one home basketball game against NMU they brought their mascot with them. Our cheerleaders were good friends with theirs, so both squads and mascots played off each other and cheered with each other during the game. The Wildcat and I were hamming it up on the court with play-fighting and a few times the bumps got a little rough and once I knocked the Wildcat down on the court before helping it back up.
After the game, the 2 squads got together to be social along with the mascots. I was a 220 lb. weightlifter, and felt very foolish when the Wildcat took off her costume head to reveal a very petite girl. She was laughing it up and assured me that for her it was all very fun. Then, she stepped out of the rest of the costume to reveal a leg cast that went up to her knee. To this day I feel REALLY bad about knocking her down on the court.
I was the mascot 1980-81 & 1981-82 school year. I have some pics I could get you too.