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Dawson Wolfe – November 15, 2019

Bruins senior all about team

Wolfe valuable for a number of reasons to Tri-West boys basketball

By Mike Beas

Players taking pride in an assigned role was integral to basketball success decades before the advent of 3-point stripes, baggy shorts and one-handed passes.

 

Two-sport athlete Dawson Wolfe uses grit and pride to lead the Tri-West boys basketball and baseball teams. (Photo by Rick Myers)

Dawson Wolfe might be described as something of a throwback, but the Tri-West senior forward is making it work for him. Advertised in game programs as being 6-foot, Wolfe’s tenacity and team-first mentality are invaluable for a program that has gone 15-7 in the postseason since the end of the 2012-13 season.

 

Wolfe is also ranked ninth in his class academically of 131 students with a 4.04 grade-point average.

“Dawson isn’t the type of guy who is going to fill the stat sheet,” said 11th-year Bruins coach Adam Bontreger whose squad opens the season at home against Cascade on Nov. 27. “He’s going to do all the dirty work a team needs to be successful.

“Just being around his family, I feel it’s something ingrained in him by his mom and dad (Scott and Rosie). He embodies everything in our program that I want a leader to be, and is a kid on and off the court that Tri-West can be proud of.”

As a junior, Wolfe averaged 9.9 points and 3.5 rebounds a game. He reached double-figures in 13 of the Bruins’ 23 games, his high total being 17-point performances in victories over Harrison, Lebanon and Covenant Christian. His season-best rebounding game was eight boards in a 79-62 defeat of Northview early in the season.

But as much as Tri-West values from Wolfe’s points, the Bruins also benefit from his ability to prevent them. Wolfe, who is an undersized power forward, is usually asked to defend the opponent’s best front-court player.

Tri-West enters the season returning 77% of its point productivity from last season’s 10-13 team. This includes seniors Taylor Gardner (10.2 ppg) and Luke Robertson (10.1), along with junior Mason Loviscek (6.5) for what should again be an extremely balanced team offensively.

“There are games Dawson will be our leading scorer just because he’s so competitive,” said Bontreger.

 

Two-sport athlete Dawson Wolfe uses grit and pride to lead the Tri-West boys basketball and baseball teams. (Photo by Rick Myers)


Wolfe is a two-sport athlete. After the end of basketball season, he’ll focus on his final season as part of the Bruins’ baseball program. This will be Wolfe’s fourth year as a starter, mostly as an outfielder, though the right-hander does some pitching.

Last spring, he tied for the team’s best batting average (.364) and went solo in the top spots in doubles (8), runs (23), triples (2) and stolen bases (12).

Wolfe, who is leaning toward majoring in marketing at IUPUI, simply can’t say if he prefers taking charges or managing pitch counts. At the moment, his sports focus centers around basketball and basketball only.

“It’s whatever sport is in season for me,” said Wolfe. “In basketball, I like getting out there and playing in front of all those people with kids I’ve grown up with.”

 

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