As Logan Lease undoubtedly sees it, the third time’s got to be the charm.
After a first year of competing in the kids division in 2022, then finishing third nationally a year ago in the teen division, Lease is again putting his “business in the front, party in the back” hairstyle on the line in the USA Mullet Championships.
“This spectacular mudflap has been grown with the purest Oklahoma ingredients known to mankind,” Lease says in describing what “may look like just some goofy haircut.”
Proud of the hairstyle he’s had the past three years, Lease says his naturally wavy, blond hair “has been lightened by the warmth of the sun. It has been my comfort in the middle of deer and duck hunting, it has been a shield for me to fight off the killer mosquitoes of Oklahoma.”
He’s given his mullet a name — the Okie Mudflap — and professes “it’s just not a haircut, it’s a way of life.”
When we think of the unique 1980s hairstyle, it’s not hard to visualize Brian Bosworth, Rod Stewart, David Bowie or Patrick Swayze.
But if you live in Gore or go to school at Vian, the magnificent mullet is synonymous with Lease, a 14-year-old ninth grader.
“To some, it may look like just some goofy haircut,” Lease has written on a social media post of his mother, Nicole. “But to me and my family, it’s a reflection of the young man I’ve become. It tells a story that only a few will understand. So with that said, I’d like to share it with you.
“I’m a young man who loves to fish, respects the hunt of wildlife, embraces the early morning hunt in a duck blind, respects my elders, attends church with my mother, protects the ones I call friends and, lastly, wears my mullet like a champ.”
Having made it to the national semifinals with more than 30 other mullet-wearers, Lease hopes to make it to the finals on August 14-21 to earn the national mullet crown. But he’ll have to immediately receive enough online votes to advance. Votes can be cast at www.mulletchamp.com/ mullets/logan-lease-okiemudflap.
Lease says family and friends “think it’s cool” that he wears a mullet, which is at least one reason he doesn’t plan on losing the party in the back.
Lease says wearing a mullet sets him apart from others, but admits that there are those occasions when he’s been mistaken from the back as a girl — until his deep voice reveals it’s just a mullet.
“To me and my family, it’s a reflection of the young man I’ve become. It tells a story that only a few will understand,” he says.
But when school starts at Vian on Aug. 15, Lease may be joining his classmates as a national finalist, which is a reason for not only a party in the back, but a party all around.
