HLGU’s Theologian “Theo” the Trojan came out victorious in a mascot challenge sponsored by the American Midwest Conference. The competition bracket was single-elimination and pitted 13 mascots against each other to see who could earn the most Twitter votes.
During his journey to the top, Theo defeated Eggbert, from Williams Baptist University, Scot, the 2017 defending champion from Lyon College, Screech, from William Woods University, and L-Wood of Lindenwood-Belleville in the final round.
As the champion of the AMC Mascot Challenge, Theo will now move to a national mascot challenge sponsored by the NAIA.
Theo is played by Graysan Peneston, a freshman, and is the only mascot in the conference whose face isn’t covered with a cartoon head. This allows Peneston more freedom and creativity and the ability to express more personality with the character.
“It is an honor to be the Trojan and to move on to the national NAIA Mascot Challenge,” said Peneston.
Peneston was selected in fall 2017 to be the HLGU Trojan for the 2017-2018 school year. Theo makes appearances at various campus and HLGU sponsored events but appears most regularly at athletic games.