Cabalka's legendary tenure nearing the end
Middleton’s boys golf team had just won the 2011 WIAA Division 1 state championship.
Shortly thereafter, Cardinals’ head coach Tom Cabalka was asked to join the Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin’s Board of Directors.
Cabalka, who had just retired from a lengthy teaching career, politely declined.
“I told them it probably didn't make sense because I didn't think I would be coaching much longer,” Cabalka said. “I had just finished teaching and I figured I’d stop coaching, too.”
That was 15 summers ago — about 14 more than Cabalka anticipated coaching.
“I just couldn't say goodbye,” the 75-year-old Cabalka said.
Everyone reaches the 18th hole at some point, though, and Cabalka will be tapping in for double eagle in the days ahead.
After 36 years in the program, including the last 22 as Middleton’s head coach, Cabalka is retiring after the season. He’ll leave behind a legacy of excellence — both on and off the course.
Middleton, which currently has the No. 1 ranked team in Wisconsin, has been to the state tournament 14 times since Cabalka became the head coach. The Cardinals won the state title in 2011, and also have three runner-up finishes and three third place showings under Cabalka.
More importantly, Cabalka believed his top priority was helping his golfers develop into great people. So Cabalka tutored his players on life as much as he instructed them on golf.
“Man, myth, legend,” Middleton assistant coach Tom Schmitt said of Cabalka, who he also taught with at Northside Elementary. “It has been such a special time for me to get to know him, teach with him and now to have coached with him.
“His retirement will leave a huge gap in Cardinal Nation, but the legacy and impact he has had on kids and adults will live on for many, many years.”
Brady Thomas, a 2016 MHS graduate, was part of three teams that notched top-5 finishes at state, including one that finished second during his final season. Thomas will always remember the Cardinals’ successes on the course, but he still carries many of the life lessons he learned from Cabalka.
“What always impressed me was how prepared he made us,” Thomas said of Cabalka. “Before tournaments, we would go over the course hole-by-hole so we knew exactly what to expect.
“But beyond golf, he cared a lot about teaching us how to carry ourselves the right way. This meant being positive and respectful golfers to our playing competitors and to the golf course. Also, after every match, he made sure we thanked the host coach and the pro shop staff for having us out to play. I couldn’t be more grateful for everything I learned from him.”
************
Cabalka began teaching in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District in 1974, where he became best known as one of the state’s elite defensive coordinators. Cabalka’s work on the gridiron was so highly regarded that he was inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame as an assistant coach in 2011.
Cabalka and close friend Dewey Stendahl coached football, and the lower levels of baseball and basketball together at MHS. When Stendahl became the boys golf coach in 1991, Cabalka gave up baseball to join him.
“When Dewey and I started we were begging kids to come out for golf,” Cabalka said.
In the years that followed, Middleton’s numbers skyrocketed. This year alone, there were more than 90 golfers in the program.
There were a myriad of reasons for that growth.
With Stendahl in charge and Cabalka as his right hand man, Middleton developed into a state power and a program golfers loved to be part of.
The Cardinals won four state titles between 1993-’99. And Stendahl, the epitome of class, laid the foundation in sportsmanship, integrity and grace that Cabalka’s teams have carried ever since.
“Dewey did it the right way,” Cabalka said. “You just can’t say enough good things about the ‘Dew.’ ”
Stendahl, who died in 2012, stepped down after the 2004 season when his health began to slip. Cabalka took over in 2005 and proudly carried on the tradition Stendahl began.
“I think one of the biggest things Tom did was continue the tradition and culture that Dewey Stendahl built within Middleton athletics and the golf program,” said Becky Halverson, Middleton’s girls coach and one of Cabalka’s assistant on the boys side. “Dewey mentored so many people, including (Cabalka), and you could see that influence in the way Tom treated others and carried himself every day.
“He understood the importance of relationships, tradition, and doing things the right way. Tom took that mentorship and continued passing it on to the next generation of coaches and students, which is a huge part of his legacy.”
******************
Cabalka helped an endless array of Middleton golfers achieve tremendous success.
Mike Schilling (2010), Emmet Herb (2016) and Jacob Beckman (2021) all won individual state championships. Mitch Johnson, Eric Hagstrom and Sean Murphy all posted top-six individual finishes during Middleton’s 2011 state championship season. A bevy of Cardinals have also gone on to highly successful collegiate careers.
Years later, though, it’s not the birdies they remember most. It’s the relationships.
And at the heart of it all was Cabalka, who was also inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin Hall of Fame in 2019.
“You know, I fall in love with every group I've had,” Cabalka said. “And if I think I have someone that I'm not in love with, for the most part, I get to them, and they get to me.”
Cabalka has certainly gotten to a horde of golfers by connecting with them on a deeper level than many coaches ever do.
Each time Middleton wins a tournament, Cabalka stops at a Kwik Trip on the van ride home and gets his players slushies. There are overnight team bonding trips.
And Cabalka gives his players tees — a red one for a birdie and a black one for a par — after good holes. Recently, Cabalka gave senior Luke Weiss two tees.
“When I asked him why he said, ‘just because I love you,’ ” Weiss said. “That really impacted me because I realized how strong our relationship was and how strong his love is for me.”
Blake Jens, a key member of Middleton’s 2011 state title team, remembers how badly those Cardinals wanted to hoist a championship — not just for themselves, but for Cabalka, too.
“We wanted that trophy for ourselves, but we really wanted it for Coach ‘C’,” Jens said. “When the coach makes everything about the players, but the players want to win for the coach, I think it speaks for itself how we felt about him.”
Thomas, who enjoyed a stellar career at UW-Eau Claire, spent a handful of summers helping Cabalka with the summer youth program at Pleasant View. For Thomas, getting the chance to work next to his former coach and mentor was a thrill.
“That was one of the coolest, full-circle experiences for me,” Thomas said. “I grew up attending that program as a kid, and later got to help teach the next group of golfers alongside him. Generations of Middleton kids grew up around Coach ‘C’ and benefited from the time and care he put into the community.”
********************
While Cabalka has been part of state titles, sectional crowns and conference championships, one of his more unique “achievements” might be that he doesn’t own a cell phone.
Yes, you read that right.
In a world where people can’t put their cell phones down, Cabalka has never picked one up.
“Somebody asked me last week, if you're going someplace and you don’t know how to get there, what do you do?” Cabalka recalled. “And I said, ‘I look at a map.’ You know, I was against push button telephones back in the ‘80s.”
Instead of communicating with texts or tweets, likes and snaps, Cabalka believes nothing beats the “old school” approach of actually talking and listening.
“I know phones have a reason and a place,” Cabalka said. “But I've never felt that I need one, especially on the golf course.”
Added Halverson: “Everyone always calls me and asks for his cell phone number at tournaments. Well, he gives them my number. I think he’s probably one of the smart ones in this world.”
Middleton athletic director Brad Crandell echoes Halverson’s sentiments. In an era where many young coaches use social media to connect with student-athletes, Cabalka does things the way he did 50 years ago.
And it’s impossible to argue with the success.
“He’s not on Instagram. He’s old school,” Crandell said. “And what’s impressive about him is that in today’s day and age he finds a way to connect with every kid in that program.
“He gets the attendance report and goes over it with everybody. He lays out the expectations and doesn’t put up with excuses because he knows what it takes to be great. And the trust he builds with the kids is really cool to see.”
*****************
Soon, the final round will be coming, though. And Cabalka knows he’s going to miss the daily camaraderie inside a program he loves deeply.
At the same time, he knows it’s time to pass the torch.
“I've got people on staff right now that are deserving,” Cabalka said. “I've been at it for almost 25 years as the head coach. I believe there's always somebody next in line that can do the job as well, or better, and I just want to see the program continue in a very positive way. I'm certain that it will.”
Cabalka is going out with one of the most gifted teams in school history.
Top-ranked Middleton has finished first at every outing this season except one — and on that day, the Cardinals were missing three of their top five players due to AP testing.
Middleton’s lineup consists of five seniors — Weiss, Sammy Forslund, Reis Von Ruden, Berrin Reiter and Aaron Gepner. Forslund and Von Ruden are four-year letterwinners, Weiss is in his third varsity season and Reiter has shined the last two years.
The group helped the Cardinals finish third at state last year, and if they advance to this year’s state tournament on June 8-9, they’ll be the favorites to bring home gold.
“They're not just good at golf. They're also wonderful kids,” Cabalka said of his team. “They like to play the game, but more than liking the game, they love to practice. That's why they're as good as they are.”
These Cardinals have also had several memorable moments off the course.
During the Holmen Sectional last year, Middleton had to stay an extra night due to inclement weather. That evening, the team went to a nearby buffet where the somewhat diminutive Forslund and Weiss engaged in a food eating competition.
“Me and Luke started arguing over who could eat more food,” Forslund recalled. “At the start it was a friendly competition until Luke came back to the table with probably 10 desserts and just started taking them down.
“Coach ‘C’ sat at the end of the table laughing and enjoying watching Luke eat and eat.”
Cabalka knows saying goodbye won't be easy.
Middleton athletics are in his blood. The golf program has become his baby.
“After I retired from teaching, I found out I had more time, which was great,” Cabalka said. “And I think I was able to build really close relationships with the kids because I was with them all the time. It was something I never, ever wanted to leave.”
Cabalka believes now is the right time, though.
He’s still in tip-top shape. He and his wife, Carol, go to Arizona every winter and can take more time away if they choose.
More than anything, though, Cabalka believes it’s someone else’s turn.
The next two weeks — as Middleton chases a title and Cabalka wraps up his legendary career — promise to be emotional.
“I know I'm going to miss it,” Cabalka said. “I'm already doing that thing like, that's the last time I'm going to coach at Bishops Bay. Or that’s the last time I'm going to coach at Erin Hills.
“So just thinking about the end, I’m almost in tears.”
He won't be the only one.
