February 2026

DEFOREST — A season of high expectations for junior Reed Falk and Middleton’s wrestlers took another positive step at the WIAA Division 1 DeForest Sectional last Saturday.

For the second year in a row, Middleton advanced the same three wrestlers — senior Sam Zanton at 157 pounds, senior Finn Grauwels at 165 and Falk at 190 — to the WIAA individual state tournament at the Kohl Center on Feb. 26-28.

After securing Big Eight Conference dual and tournament titles, the Cardinals inched closer to their ultimate goal — winning its first team state championship in school history.

Falk and Grauwels secured sectional championships, while Zanton placed second for the Cardinals, who placed second in the 16-team tournament with 183 points. Waunakee won the sectional team championship with 199 points, while Oregon was third with 162.

Middleton’s girls basketball team has had its best season in the four-year Rashard Griffith-era.

But the Cardinals’ postseason path will be a brutal one.

Middleton received the No. 12 seed in a loaded sectional and will face fifth-seeded Verona in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.  The Wildcats (17-5) won both meetings against the Cardinals this season by an average of 22.0 points.

Verona has won 10 straight games against Middleton and Griffith is 0-8 against the Wildcats during his four seasons.

If the Cardinals pull off an upset, though, they’d face either fourth-seeded Mukwonago or 13^th-seeded Oregon in a regional final on Feb. 28.

The sectional semifinals are March 5 and the sectional finals are March 7.

Arrowhead is the No. 1 seed in the sectional, while Waunakee, Brookfield East, Mukwonago and Verona round out the top five.

The second season has arrived.

And Middleton’s hockey team hopes the postseason goes better than the regular season.

The Cardinals finished the regular season 7-15-2 overall and in fourth place in the Big Eight Conference at 6-5-1.

Middleton received the No. 7 seed in its sectional and opened the postseason by hosting 10^th-seeded Reedsburg Tuesday in a regional semifinal. If the Cardinals won there they would travel to second-seeded Sun Prairie either Feb. 19 or 20 for a regional final.

The sectional semifinals are Feb. 24 and the sectional finals are either Feb. 27 or 28.

Middleton finished the regular season with a 12-5 win over Beloit Memorial on Feb. 10 and a 9-0 loss to Arrowhead on Feb. 12.

Here’s a recap of those games:

Ending 22 years of service to the City of Middleton on Jan. 30, Drew Montour received a proclamation honoring his service as information technology director as part of the Feb. 3 Middleton Common Council meeting.