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August 2014

Wed
20
Aug
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Middleton's offense figures to shine

Submitted by MTT News on Wed, 08/20/2014 - 13:37

 

CROSS PLAINS — Tim Simon has seen the coin land both ways. And he undoubtedly likes this view the best.

Simon, Middleton’s 11th-year football coach, has had teams with an unquenched thirst for the sport. He’s had others that weren’t quite as passionate.

When the Cardinals begin the 2014 campaign Friday against visiting Janesville Parker at 7 p.m., Simon believes this will be one of the most ardent and zealous outfits he’s ever fielded.

“We’ve got some hungry kids,” Simon said. “This group loves football as much as any team we’ve had.

“A lot of years you have 30 kids where football is their No. 1 sport. Then you have another 20 or 30 where football is No. 2, and so on. But this year, it’s like football is No. 1 with everybody.

“Even last year during JV basketball (where Simon is the head coach), a lot of days all they wanted to talk about was football. These kids can’t wait.”

Neither can Simon.

Wed
20
Aug
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Middleton's defense will be high-powered

Submitted by MTT News on Wed, 08/20/2014 - 13:29

CROSS PLAINS — Tom Cabalka typically plays things close to the vest.

No matter how much Middleton’s veteran defensive coordinator loves his unit, he’ll rarely sing their praises in August.

This season was different, though.

“We’ve got a chance to be a pretty good defense,” Cabalka said.

That statement alone might tell it all.

Middleton’s defense brings back eight players that started at least one game a year ago. Six of those were starters throughout the season.

So after allowing 17 points a game in 2013, these Cardinals have their sights set even higher.

“Shutouts. That’s what we want,” senior safety Max Boehnen said. “We’re ready for it.”

The Cardinals certainly seem ready for big things.

The defensive line is experienced and deep. The linebackers can run. And there’s a bevy of talent throughout the secondary.

Wed
20
Aug
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Soccer Cardinals hope to reload

Submitted by MTT News on Wed, 08/20/2014 - 13:25

The casual observer might look at Middleton’s boys soccer team and predict a rebuilding season.

Guess again says Cardinals coach Ben Kollasch.

“For the foreseeable future we will be reloading,” said Kollasch, whose team begins its season Thursday against visiting Mount Horeb at 7 p.m. “We have the largest program in the state in terms of participation, which gives me lots of athletes that know how to play soccer well.”

Middleton lost 15 seniors from last year’s team that finished second in the Big Eight Conference. That group also went 11-8-1 overall.

Despite heavy losses to graduation, though — including all-state defenseman Jack Hagstrom — the Cardinals still have a 14-person senior class. And Kollasch is extremely optimistic that this group can do some damage.

Wed
20
Aug
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Middleton golfers start strong

Submitted by MTT News on Wed, 08/20/2014 - 13:17

 

They’ve waited in the wings.

They’ve patiently bided their time.

Now, several members of Middleton’s girls golf team are ready to show their stuff.

The Cardinals finished sixth at the 21-team, WPGA Invite held at Yahara Hills last Friday. It was Middleton’s first event of the year, and it competed without standout Loren Skibba, who was sidelined with a back injury.

The Cardinals had three girls who never competed in a varsity match, and two others with limited varsity experience. Still, Middleton hung tough against many of the state’s elite teams.

Milton won the tournament with a 322 team score, while Madison Edgewood (323), Verona (327), Homestead (329) and Arrowhead (338) rounded out the top five. Middleton was sixth at 342.

Tue
12
Aug
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Middleton's girls golfers hope to reload

Submitted by MTT News on Tue, 08/12/2014 - 08:18

Together, they combined to win 12 varsity letters.

They captured two Big Eight Conference championships, and finished third and sixth the past two seasons at the WIAA Division 1 state meet.

Over the last three years, Middleton girls golfers Sheenagh Cleary, Kelly Wassarman, Hunter Schultz and Meggie Acker were instrumental in the Cardinals’ success. In fact, last season all four received some form of all-conference honors.

That sensational quartet has graduated, though, leaving Middleton with many questions.

It’s rare, though, when the Cardinals don’t have answers. Typically, they don’t rebuild. They reload.

And Middleton second-year coach Becky Halverson hopes that will be the case when the Cardinals open their season Friday at the Madison Edgewood Invite, which will be held at Yahara Hills.

Sat
09
Aug
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Football Cardinals anxious to quiet doubters

Submitted by MTT News on Sat, 08/09/2014 - 12:46

Cross Plains — The look said it all.

Max Boehnen, a standout safety on Middleton’s football team, was informed his team was picked to finish fourth in the Big Eight Conference by wissports.net.

What followed was a facial expression that displayed disbelief, astonishment and a little bit of anger.

“Are you kidding me? No way,” Boehnen said. “I would easily pick us for No. 1.

“With what we have coming back, and the speed we’re picking things up mentally and physically, I really think we’re our own opponent. This will be a year that everybody’s going to remember.”

That seemed to be the feeling throughout the program as Middleton opened practice this week.

The Cardinals bring back eight players on defense that were either full-time or part-time starters. The defensive line could be one of Middleton’s best in years, as all four projected starters were vital cogs a year ago.

Wed
06
Aug
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Behind the Scenes as a Local Monsanto

Submitted by MTT News on Wed, 08/06/2014 - 12:50

If you want to ruin a dinner party, just bring up Monsanto. Like politics and religion before it, the world’s largest seed company is a topic notorious for starting arguments.

To critics of Monsanto and the genetically modified (GMO) crops it develops, the company is a money-grubbing force for evil, poisoning the food supply and stomping on small farmers and environmentalists who get in its way.

To defenders, Monsanto is well on the way to wiping out world hunger, working to usher in an age in which, for the first time in mankind’s 200,000-year history, everyone has enough to eat. (The company’s chief technology officer, Robert Fraley, won the coveted World Food Prize last year.) 

Those two camps are firmly entrenched, thanks in large part to the Internet’s bunker system. Those who believe the ethical and practical questions raised by GMOs are a bit more nuanced have been largely silent on issue, at least online.

Wed
06
Aug

Week 32

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