Sports

Cole Toennies isn't sure when he first realized he had a knack for returning punts.

Maybe it was in fourth grade, when he played running back and discovered he had a rare elusiveness. Perhaps it was when he played on Middleton’s JV team a few seasons back and shined in the return game. Or it could have been last spring, when he developed into a dangerous weapon at the varsity level.
While the timeline might be unclear, one thing is for certain. There may not be a better punt returner in the state today than Toennies.

Toennies, a senior wide receiver/cornerback/return man, had a night to remember last Friday when the Cardinals routed host Beloit Memorial, 55-0. Toennies returned two punts for touchdowns, caught a third touchdown and powered Middleton to an easy win.

In U2’s smash hit “A Sort of Homecoming”, Bono finishes the brilliant tune by saying:

“For tonight, at last, I am coming home. I am coming home.”

Joe Miller can relate.

Miller, one of the top wrestlers in Middleton High School history, is coming home himself. Miller, a 1993 MHS graduate, was recently hired as the Cardinals’ new head wrestling coach.

Miller replaces Kent Weiler, who stepped down at the end of last season.

“It’s like a full circle moment for me,” Miller said last week. “This is where, shoot, some of the most important moments of my life happened.

“It’s really like a time warp. I kind of flashed back to my first moments in the program back in 1991 and what it meant to me to wrestle here. I just can’t tell you how excited I am.”

Middleton athletic director Jamie Sims was just as excited to add Miller to his staff.

The No. 1 girls golf team in the state continues to live up to their lofty ranking.

Middleton’s sensational squad had another memorable week.

The Cardinals won the star-studded, Crusade Fore a Cure on Aug. 30.

Middleton won a triangular against Madison West and Janesville Parker on Aug. 31.

And the Cardinals won the 10-team B&B Shootout held Sept. 1 at Blackhawk.

“The girls had an outstanding week with 54 holes of golf played over three days,” Middleton coach Becky Halverson said.

The Crusade Fore a Cure raises money for the UW Carbone Cancer Center. Middleton raised $4,051 total in honor of former Athletic Director Bob Joers, current assistant Athletic Director Ben White and teammate Mackenzie Sloan.

The event was a five-person speedy scramble and Middleton shot a 60 to edge runner-up Tomah (61) by one stroke.

Middleton’s cross country teams have extremely hopes this season.

And both showed why at last Saturday’s season-opening Verona Invite.

Middleton’s boys and girls won the star-studded event, letting the cross country world know it could be a big year for both Cardinal teams.

Middleton’s girls — which began the year ranked No. 1 — finished first with a miniscule 41 points. Madison West was second with 67 points, while Whitefish Bay (162), Lincoln-Way Central (202) and Sun Prairie (213) rounded out the top five at the 23-team invite.

“I was very impressed with how the girls performed,” Middleton coach Alexa Richardson said. “That was definitely an accurate representation of how their training has been going.

Kevin Pauls waxed poetically about his boys soccer team at Middleton before the season began.

But after the Cardinals were handily defeated by Oregon in their season-opener, many were wondering if Pauls was blowing smoke.

Turns out, the Cardinals’ boss knew just what he was talking about.

Middleton went to the highly-competitive Brookfield East Invite last weekend and had a pair of impressive performances.

The Cardinals and Brookfield East — the No. 7 ranked team in Division 1 — played to a 2-2 tie last Friday. Middleton followed that up with a 3-1 win over Cedarburg — the 10^th ranked team in Division 2 — on Saturday.

In all, it was a terrific weekend for the Cardinals.

“Both games were an improvement from last Saturday against Oregon,” Pauls said.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ two games:

This much we know about Rob Kleinschmidt.

Middleton’s boys volleyball coach likes heavyweights, not cupcakes. So when Kleinschmidt is assembling a schedule, he loads the Cardinals up with many of the state’s elite teams.

Middleton saw a murderer’s row of terrific foes at last Saturday’s Brookfield East Invite. And after a solid all-around day, the Cardinals left with a fifth-place finish in the elite tournament that included several teams likely to reach the state tournament.

“We had a very good opponent in every match, and it was exactly what we wanted going into the tournament,” Kleinschmidt said. “We learned a lot about ourselves and improved even within the day as we played bigger and bigger matches.” 

Middleton opened against third-ranked Milwaukee Marquette, a program that’s won nine state championships since 2002. The Cardinals battled, but fell to the Hilltoppers, 25-19, 25-20.

They’re talented, experienced and hungry.

That’s a pretty good combination, and it's one that’s helped Middleton’s girls volleyball team race to a terrific start this season.

The Cardinals won their home-opener on Aug. 31 in straight sets over Lake Geneva Badger and improved to 8-2 this year. Middleton toppled the Badgers, 25-21, 25-15, 25-13.

“I was very happy about our showing at our first home game against Badger,” Middleton coach Maddie Vogel said. “One thing we’ve been talking about every game so far is setting the pace. When we establish our offense early on we are way more successful than if we allow our opponents to do so, and setting the pace is definitely something we did against Badger.”

Jordan LaScala led the Cardinals with 13 kills, while Evin Jordee had 18 assists. Haley Stoffregan and Jordee both had three aces, while Jordee and LaScala each had two blocks.

LaScala, Eliana Ross and Amber Wahlgren all had five digs.

Middleton’s girls swimming team rolled past Madison Memorial, 109-61, last Friday. The Cardinals are now a perfect 3-0 in dual meets.

“The team swam well vs. Memorial, who was our toughest competition so far this year,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman said. “However we will need to be much more consistent with our performances throughout the meet in order to compete with West and Verona in the coming weeks, so that is something we will be working on in practice this week.”

Middleton’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Ella Needham, Eva Anagnostopoulos, Piper Garcia Hall and Abby Ensenberger finished first. The Cardinals’ foursome of Audrey Alexander, Emma Chandler, Taylor Carbon and Izzy Ensenberger was third in that same event.

Middleton’s quartet of Abby Ensenberger, Alexander, Molly Haag and Lily Mair won the 400-yard freestyle, while the foursome of Sophie Benson, Chandler, Anagnostopoulos and Natalie Charles was second.

Middleton head football coach Jason Pertzborn and the Cardinals were disappointed in the final result of their much anticipated non-conference matchup with neighboring prep football powerhouse Waunakee last Friday night.

After roaring to an early 10-point lead, the Cardinals rallied from a 17-point second half deficit to come within a recovered onside kick of pulling out a potentially thrilling victory.

However, Waunakee held on to defeat Middleton 34-31 on a hot and steamy evening at Breitenbach Stadium.

Following back-to-back losses to Waunakee and Bay Port — two teams that lost in the 2019 state finals — Pertzborn firmly believes the Cardinals are ready to contend for a Big Eight Conference title and compete in postseason play.

They say first impressions are often the most telling.

If that holds true for Middleton’s girls volleyball team, the Cardinals are poised for a memorable season.

Middleton began its season by winning the Onalaska Invite held Aug. 25-26. The Cardinals went 7-2 overall, which was good enough to win the title.

“I’m extremely proud of how the team performed in Onalaska,” Middleton coach Maddie Vogel said. “It was a very long couple of days to power through, so winning it definitely felt very rewarding.”

Jordan LaScala had a team-high 61 kills in the nine matches, while Tavya Johnson had 37, Sierra Pertzborn added 36 and Evin Jordee had 19.

Jordee had an impressive 135 assists, 34 digs and 14 aces. Amber Wahlgren had 18 aces and Pertzborn had 12 aces.

Eliana Ross led the way with 60 digs, while LaScala had 51 digs, Wahlgren added 37 digs and Karen Lu had 21 digs.