But Can They Ride A Horse And Throw A Spear?

The Wolfpack was first mentioned in association with NC State athletics in 1921, when an anonymous letter-writer to the school newspaper mentioned that some of the school’s football players were as unruly as a pack of wolves. The name stuck for football. All other athletics teams, until 1946, were called the “Red Terrors.”

At first, football cheerleaders used a live Minnesota timber wolf named “State” as the team mascot, but wolves are generally reclusive and not all that fond of human beings. “State” was eventually sold to a traveling animal show. In 1947, all athletic teams adopted the nickname “Wolfpack.”In 1966, a new wolf, Lobo III, was purchased to commemorate the opening of Carter Stadium.

However, following the season, an NC State zoology professor named Fred Barkalow discovered that Lobo III was actually a coyote, not a wolf. In the fall of 1967, the Wolfpack was called the “Kool Kyoties,” a name that was popularized by Sports Illustrated following the Wolfpack’s stunning upset of No. 2-ranked Houston.

Throughout the 1950s and ’60s, however, the cheerleading team also used a student in a wolf costume to rally the crowds at football and basketball games. He was called “Mr. Wuf.” When the school added women’s athletics in 1975, a female wolf mascot was introduced as well. She was called “Ms. Wuf.”