Tanner Figgatt, Fraziers Bottom native and 2026-27 WVU Mountaineer mascot finalist (WVU Photo/Brian Persinger)
Tanner Figgatt, a Fraziers Bottom native, is among the final four West Virginia University students vying to become the 72nd Mountaineer mascot. Figgatt donned buckskins and a coonskin cap and carried a rifle during in a cheer-off competition at WVU men’s basketball game against Utah on Wednesday, February 18, at the Hope Coliseum in Morgantown.
He was selected as one of the four finalists by a committee of faculty, staff and students based on an essay and interview. Figgatt and the other three finalists are waiting for their performances and interactions with the crowd at the Utah game to be evaluated. The selection committee will announce the winner during the WVU men’s basketball game against BYU on February 28th. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Hope Coliseum.
Figgatt, a member of the Honors College, is a freshman dual mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering major. He is a trumpet player in “The Pride of West Virginia,” the Mountaineer Marching Band, and a student worker in the Lane Innovation Hub. He also serves as a member of the WVU Experimental Rocketry Club and CRU, the Christian campus ministry. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, he has managed his own leaf and lawn care business since 2019.
“No matter where you come from in the state, it can be the smallest town in the state, or it can be the largest city, everybody is wearing something for West Virginia University,” Figgatt said. “As the Mountaineer, I will get to represent all of those people, people of different backgrounds, including the average guy.”
The other three finalists for the 2026-27 Mountaineer mascot are: Reese Allen, a 2022 Bucklew Scholar, Eberly Scholar and member of the Honors College from Bridgeport; Amelia Bolden, a first-year communication sciences and disorders junior with a minor in child development and family studies from Oakland, Maryland; and Joel Hershman, a junior dual sport, exercise and performance psychology and mental health and addiction studies major in the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences from Buckhannon.
