Washington High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Tia Dawson accepts Dartmouth offer

Cedar Rapids Washington senior Tia Dawson has accepted an offer from Dartmouth College to pursue an Ivy League education and play NCAA Division I basketball.

Dawson struggled with the decision, uneasy with the notion of going so far from home, but finally decided the offer was too good to refuse. Dartmouth is located in Hanover, N.H.

"I had to decide by Friday, but they gave me until Monday because I was still on the edge of whether I should go or not," Dawson said Tuesday. "So last night (Monday night) they called and I made up my mind I was going to go there."

Dawson said she actually reached her decision Saturday night, but kept it a secret until Monday. "I didn't tell anybody," she said.

"I didn't tell my mom until I was on the phone with the coach," she said. "I wanted it to be a surprise for her. She was kind of scared that I was going to say no."

Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, but they can provide academic scholarships and need-based grants in their financial package. It costs approximately $55,000 per year to attend Dartmouth, and Dawson said the school will cover about 95 percent of her costs.

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Oglesby, Washpun combine for 42 in win

DUBUQUE – Cedar Rapids Washington wants to make another northbound trip on U.S. 151 in 10 days.

The Warriors hope Tuesday was a preview of things to come in Class 4A Substate 4.

Washington leaned on its one-two punch of Josh Oglesby and Wes Washpun to edge Dubuque Senior, 55-50, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Nora Gymnasium.

Oglesby and Washpun combined for 42 of Washington’s 55 points.

If it gets by Clinton on Monday in the first round of substate play, Washington (13-8) would return to Nora Gymnasium on Feb. 25 for a rematch with Senior.

The Rams (9-10), the substate’s No. 2 seed, have a first-round bye.

Washington Coach Brad Metzger doesn’t think the teams will see anything new from each other if a rematch does occur.

“It’s not like (Senior) hasn’t had the chance to figure out some of the things we do,” Metzger said. “We have also had the chance to figure out some of the things they do. There isn’t going to be any surprises.

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Warriors finish 4th at state swim meet

MARSHALLTOWN -- The Washington Warriors had a strong showing at the boys state swimming meet, but not quite strong enough to slide a 28th trophy in the case. The Warriors mustered a fourth-place finish, with a score of 105.5 at the Marshalltown YMCA.

The Warriors were one of six teams that reached the 100 point mark. Muscatine led the way with 187.5 points and Dubuque Senior came in second with 141. Cedar Falls rounded out the top three with 135. Ames and Iowa City City High also broke triple digits. Jefferson and Linn-Mar had swimmers compete, but did not score.

With such a competitive field, Washington Coach Chris Cruise said he was pleased with the Warriors' performance.

“We had some phenomenal swims today, we had some disappointments here and there, but overall a very good day for the Warriors,” said Cruise. “We finished about in the middle of where we could have.”

The Warriors did not win an event, but they had plenty of strong swims. The 200-yard medley relay finished second leading off the meet, and junior Morgan Barnes was second in the 200 free and senior Mo Green second in the 100 butterfly.

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Warriors qualify 4 for state wrestling meet

WAVERLY -- Jefferson's Riley Welsh and Conner Herman won their respective weight classes and the J-Hawks finished second at Saturday's Class 3A district wrestling meet.

Waverly-Shell crowned nine individual champions and rolled to the team title with 291 points. Jefferson was second with 140, one point ahead of Cedar Falls. Washington was fifth with 100 points and Marion seventh with 77.

Waverly-Shell Rock and Jefferson qualify for the Class 3A regional dual meet tournament. The state dual meet tournament is Feb. 26 at the US Cellular Center.

The champions and consolation champions qualify for next week's traditional state tournament.

Waverly-Shell Rock qualified wrestlers at 12 of 14 weights.

Jefferson was the only Metro school to crown a champion. Welsh won at 189, scraping past Tyler Zook of Gladbrook-Reinbeck/North Tama 6-5 in the semifinals before pinning Zach Rahnavardi of Cedar Falls in the championship. Herman had to wrestle three matches at 215. He pinned his first two foes, then beat Waverly-Shell Rock's Kaleb Staack 2-0 for the title.

Jefferson qualified a third wrestler when Blake Carson finished second at 135.

Washington quailified four wrestlers -- Trey Schuler at 103, Jordin Eicher at 125, Kaiser Herz at 140 and Tyler Burrell at 285.

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