Fremont Couple Wins $100,000 Playing Mega Crossword

Zaena and Brian Cusick

Zaena and Brian Cusick of Fremont won $100,000 playing the Mega Crossword Scratch game from the Nebraska Lottery.

The winning ticket was purchased at Baker’s Fuel Center 323 at 1615 N Bell St. in Fremont.

The Cusicks said they received their winning ticket as a stocking stuffer from Brian’s mom.

Before scratching off the winner, Brian jokingly told the family that it was going to be a big one.

The Cusicks aren’t regular Scratch players, and only play when they receive a ticket as a gift, so they were kind of confused about the rules at first. Brian thought the ticket had only won $60 and when Zaena’s mom scanned the ticket in the Nebraska Lottery app, it just told them that it was a winner and they needed to take it to the lottery.

Unsure about what the actual prize was, the Cusicks took their ticket to the local Hy-Vee Food Store to have it scanned.

“He scanned it while I was getting some food,” Zaena said. “He waved me over to tell me and I started crying right in Hy-Vee.”

The Cusicks are planning to use their winnings to pay off some bills and take their kids on a nice vacation.

“We’re going to be debt free,” Zaena said.

A $10 Scratch game, Mega Crossword offers players a chance to win prizes from a free $10 ticket to $100,000. The chances of winning $100,000 are one in171,000, while the odds of winning any prize are one in 3.00.


Published on 12/27/2021