object var or with block var not set

can someone give me a little push here? I've tried all the breaks I can with this code and checked vars that have values in the immediate window and I can't seem to get why the worksheet object is not being set and transacted. It's been a while since I've written legacy VB like this, so I'm sure it's probably something very simple. Here is my code:

Public Sub search()
    Dim s1 As String
    Dim s2 As String
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Dim r As Range
        s1 = InputBox("Enter State Abbreviation (LOWERCASE LETTERS)")
            If s1 = "" Then
                MsgBox "No State Entered.  Operation Aborted", vbCritical, "Error"
                Exit Sub
            End If
        s2 = InputBox("Enter Name (LOWERCASE LETTERS)")
            If s2 = "" Then
                MsgBox "No Name Entered.  Operation Aborted", vbCritical, "Error"
                Exit Sub
            Else
                Select Case s1
                    Case "IA"
                        Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets("IA")
                    Case "MN"
                        Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets("MN")
                    Case "MO"
                        Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets("MO")
                    Case "NE"
                        Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets("NE")
                    Case "IL"
                        Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets("IL")
                    Case "KS"
                        Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets("KS")
                    Case "CO"
                        Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets("CO")
                End Select
                    For Each r In ws.Range("A2", ws.Range("A2").End(xlDown))
                        If Trim(r) = Trim(s2) Then
                            ActiveWorkbook.FollowHyperlink (r.Offset(0, 2))
                        End If
                    Next r
            End If
End Sub

the code fails on the first line of the loop:

For Each r In ws.Range("A2", ws.Range("A2").End(xlDown))

every var returns a val in the immediate window if I break it on the error line except the worksheet object. Can someone spot my misstep? thank you so much.

Adam