Sports

The 2019 season has thrown virtually everything possible at Middleton’s girls swimming and diving team.

Illness. Injury. Defection.

The Cardinals have experienced it all.

But Middleton had a terrific day at the Beloit Memorial Sectional last Saturday and heads to the state meet anxious to make some noise once again.

Sun Prairie won the sectional with 377.5 points, while Middleton was second with 308.0. Madison Memorial (307), Madison West (300.5) and V-MH (256.5) rounded out the top five.

The Cardinals, who have won three straight WIAA Division 1 state championships, are not the favorites this year. But Middleton will be represented in 15 of 18 events when the state meet begins Saturday at 3 p.m. at the UW Natatorium and hopes to surprise.

Middleton’s boys volleyball team enjoyed another memorable season.
And the Cardinals were rewarded for their successes as seven Middleton players received all-Big Eight Conference honors.

Senior outside hitter Parker Van Buren was named first-team all-Big Eight and was voted the league’s Player of the Year. Junior middle hitter Ruben Emmerich and junior setter Nick Stott joined Van Buren on the all-conference first-team.

Senior libero Matthew Stormer was named second-team all-conference, while senior outside hitter Scott Buros, senior middle hitter Sam Mefford and junior defensive specialist Jackson Pertzborn were named honorable-mention all-conference.

Van Buren put together one of the finest years in school history and earned first-team all-state honors along the way.

Middleton’s boys soccer team had a solid year, going 13-6-3 overall, finishing in third place in the ultra-competitive Big Eight Conference and reaching the sectional semifinals.

So it was no surprise to see the Cardinals well-represented on the all-Big Eight Conference team.

Senior forward Isaac Gueu and junior midfielder Ben Tutewohl were both named first-team all-league. Senior defender Cian Carlson was named second-team all-conference, while senior defenders Blake Kalscheur and Peter Tuttle, senior midfielder Max Rateau and junior midfielder Ian Staresinic were all named honorable-mention all-conference.

Gueu finished the year third on the team in goals (10), second in assists (eight) and third in total points (28).

Middleton’s girls volleyball team went through a rebuilding season this fall.

But that didn’t stop several Cardinals from having terrific years and earning all-Big Eight Conference honors.

Freshman outside hitter Jordan LaScala was named first-team all-league, while senior middle blocker Erica Collin was named second-team all-conference. Senior outside hitter Evie Coleman, junior libero Jada Cerniglia and freshman setter Evin Jordee were all named honorable mention all-conference.

LaScala played in all 120 sets and led the Cardinals in kills (361) and receptions (398). LaScala was second with a .331 hitting percentage, second in digs (217) and third in aces (43).

“Jordan is fun to coach,” Middleton coach Franco Marcos said. “She is very focused at practice and in the match. The future looks very bright with Jordan’s talent, work ethic, volleyball IQ and respect to the game, teammates, coaches, officials, opponents and fans.”

The meeting was almost over, and the approximately 100 coaches in attendance were set to scurry to their next event.

Middleton athletic director Bob Joers — who runs the “all coaches” meetings three times every year — had covered all the nuts and bolts on Oct. 30. Then, when all the business involving sports had ended, Joers delivered a bombshell.

Joers informed his coaches that he has pancreatic cancer. Joers will begin an aggressive form of chemotherapy on Nov. 20.

“I’ve been at a loss for words this past week,” said Lauren Cabalka, Middleton’s girls swimming and diving coach. “It’s just heartbreaking how unfair life can be.” 

Tim Simon, an MHS football and basketball assistant coach and one of Joers’ closest friends, agreed with Cabalka.

“It was just a blow,” Simon said “He’s such a tremendous athletic director, but an even better person. I’m praying for him, everyone is praying for him.”

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — Brian Finnel’s message was simple. Executing it was far more challenging.

Finnel, Middleton’s boys cross country coach, told his team before last Saturday’s WIAA Division 1 state meet that everyone had to try performing like they were the Cardinals’ No. 1 runner. Finnel stressed that if they all ran to that level, the Cardinals could surprise and win a state championship.

Amazingly, that’s exactly what happened.

Middleton placed five runners in the top-25 and upset favored Stevens Point to win its second state title in three years and the third in school history.

The Cardinals finished with 104 points, while Stevens Point was second at 116. Hortonville (179), Madison West (182) and Oconomowoc (183) rounded out the top five at the 20-team race held at The Ridges Golf Course.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — Maddie Ruszkiewicz found herself in the last place she expected last Saturday afternoon.

On the ground.

Just moments before reaching the finish line at the WIAA Division 1 state cross country meet, Ruszkiewicz — a Middleton High School sophomore — collapsed. As Ruszkiewicz briefly laid on the cold and wet soil at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, she had one overriding thought.

“I thought about my teammates and how they probably already were there,” Ruszkiewicz said. “And then one of them passed me, and I was like, ‘We’re probably not going to place if I don’t crawl across the finish line.’ ”

So that’s exactly what she did.

Their plan was to be aggressive, assertive and forceful all 90 minutes.

Middleton’s boys soccer team decided that its best chance to knock off top-seeded Verona in a WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal last Friday was by taking the fight to the Wildcats.

The Cardinals did just that — and scored more goals against Verona than anyone else has all season. But Middleton’s defense also had critical breakdowns and the Wildcats defeated the Cardinals, 5-3.

Middleton finished the year 13-6-3, while Verona (19-1-2) defeated Madison West in the sectional finals and qualified for state for the first time in school history.

“We really thought that we could get our best shot at Verona by focusing on the attack,” Middleton coach Ben Kollasch said. “Our defense has played well — and did play well against Verona — and we have a high-powered offense that has come together even more in the last few weeks.

SUN PRAIRIE — Middleton boys’ volleyball interim coach Justin Haack said the 2019 season was about far more than just volleyball.

Haack said the Cardinals learned a lot about life.

Haack has been filling in much of the year for head coach Ben White, who is battling lymphoma. Before Middleton’s WIAA sectional final against Kettle Moraine last Saturday, the Cardinals donned “His Fight is My Fight” T-shirts in support of their beloved coach.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their emotional season came to a disappointing end when the third-seeded Lasers stunned top-seeded Middleton, 3-2, at Sun Prairie High School.

“We’re disappointed. We knew we’d have to play a solid match,” Haack said. “Credit to Kettle Moraine, they came out and played really well. They knew they would have to serve tough against us, and they did.”

Brad Rogeberg has watched Josh Stormer excel for nearly a decade now.

Rogeberg, Middleton’s defensive coordinator, began coaching Stormer when he was a fourth grader in the Cardinals’ youth program. And game after game, week after week, Stormer always shined.

“The kid has always been a playmaker,” Rogeberg said.

Never has Stormer made a bigger play, though, than last Friday during the Cardinals’ WIAA Division 1 playoff opener.

Visiting Madison La Follette had just driven 95 yards and pulled within 21-20 of the Cardinals after a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Probst to tight end Andrew Rajkovich with only one second remaining. The Lancers eschewed the extra point and lined up for two.

For a moment, wideout David Gray came free and Probst threw his way. But Stormer — a junior cornerback — made a sensational break on the ball, knocked the pass away and helped the Cardinals escape with a thrilling win.