Sports

A flock of future Cardinals were treated to quite a show when the Middleton football program hosted ‘Youth Night’ last Friday.

First, the defense forced a pair of early turnovers to help Middleton take a quick lead.

Later, after visiting Madison Memorial responded with a scoring splurge, the Cardinals stormed back and capped a thrilling first half when junior quarterback Joey Passaglia and junior wide receiver Chase Rogers combined for a scoring drive for the ages heading into halftime.

But the dynamic duo and their MHS teammates learned a valuable lesson in the process.

It’s not how you start that matters most, but how you finish.

Madison Memorial took advantage of a late turnover to set up senior Ty Aparicio’s 21-yard game-winning field goal with 3 seconds remaining to lift the Spartans to a 38-35 win in a thrilling Big Eight Conference opener at Breitenbach Stadium.

Middleton girls volleyball coach Ben White joked with his team during practice last Friday.

White told his team that he’d coached in 19 Cardinal Invites at Middleton High School and never won one. Then he said, “It would be pretty cool if we were able to do something this year that we were never able to do before.”

Little did White know his team would deliver.

Middleton went 4-0 on the day — highlighted by three different three-set wins — and captured the Cardinal Invite.

The tournament was also a Spike Out Cancer event that raised funds for the American Cancer Society. White was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2019, but has been in remission now roughly 4 ½ years.

“It was a special day for myself,” White said of the Cardinal Invite. “It was great to see so many teams participate and wear special jerseys, socks or warm-up T-shirts.”

Middleton’s play was awfully impressive, too.

VERONA — Just two weeks into the season and Middleton’s girls swimming and diving team already has one of its biggest meets of the year in the books.

It was a resounding success.

Freshman Jane Garlock won two events, sophomore Brynn Sundell won two others and the Cardinals swept all three relays while showcasing their depth en route to a convincing 107-79, Big Eight Conference win over host Verona last Friday.

The matchup featured the top two teams at last year’s WIAA Division 1 state meet and perhaps the two greatest challengers for this year’s crown, as well.

“It was a big meet to have a couple weeks into the season,” said Sundell, who was fifth in the 500-yard freestyle, sixth in the 200 free and on a pair of top-six finishing relays to help the Cardinals to the state title in 2023. “We did a great job of being loud, cheering for everyone and really pushing everyone so they can go fast.”

Brian Finnel has been around the sport of cross country for a long time.

On Saturday, though, Middleton’s boys cross country coach experienced something he’d never seen before.

The results of the star-studded Verona Invitational were in and it appeared the Cardinals had finished third.

Finnel, curious about the times, discovered only six of Middleton’s seven runners had been counted in the final scoring. After consulting with the timing crew, they all discovered Zach Tang’s time had not been recorded.

After re-calculating the numbers, Middleton jumped from third to first, edging Madison West for the championship at this 11-team event. Middleton finished with 70 points and nipped the Regents (71) for the team title. Madison La Follette (90), Verona (93) and Sun Prairie East (117) rounded out the top five.

Kelly Julian views Middleton’s girls cross country team like a puzzle.

Julian, the Cardinals’ co-head coach, believes she has all the right pieces. Her job is to get them into the right place.

Julian believes that’s beginning to happen as she watched Middleton perform well at the Verona Invite last Saturday. The Cardinals finished fifth out of 10 Division 1 teams and ninth overall in the 30-team field.

“Early races in the season are all about putting pieces of a puzzle together that we believe will help us achieve our future goals,” Julian said. “With such a young squad, it is an especially fun process this year. We know how much potential this team has, and each performance gives us a glimmer of what our future holds.”

Madison West won the Division 1 team title with 38 points, while Sun Prairie West was second with 72 points. New Lenox, Ill. (80), Verona (103) and Middleton (118) rounded out the top five.

Be a goldfish.

In the hit television show ‘Ted Lasso’, that’s what the fictional soccer coach tells his team.

“You know what the happiest animal on Earth is?” Lasso asks. “It's a goldfish. It has a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish.”

Middleton girls golf coach Becky Halverson wanted her team to adopt that mindset last week. And that’s just what they did.

Middleton had a rough outing and finished 10^th at the 18-team Brookfield Central Invite held at University Ridge Golf Course on Sept. 3.

But the Cardinals responded with a season-low 310 to win the Janesville Craig Triangular on Sept. 5. Middleton then finished third at the 20-team Cardinal Invite held at Pleasant View last Saturday.

“The girls learned some lessons about mindset,” Halverson said. “The girls are going to continue to work hard to get to where they want to be for the postseason.”

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week:

The Brookfield East boys volleyball tournament is always one of the state’s elite events.

The top teams, players and coaches are almost all in attendance.

So after second-ranked Middleton went 4-1 at that tournament last Saturday and left with a fifth place finfish, the Cardinals felt awfully good about where their season was headed.

“It's usually a good litmus test to see where we are early in the season,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said. “We had a really good showing.”

They sure did.

Middleton opened with a 25-19, 25-16 win over Brookfield Central, then downed Franklin, 25-18, 25-22, to finish pool play, 2-0.

The Cardinals then had a crossover game with third-ranked Marquette and the Hilltoppers prevailed in a thriller, 25-13, 25-27, 18-16. Middleton and Marquette have met twice now, and the Hilltoppers have edged the Cardinals in two spandex-tight matches.

The first Wisconsin Boys Soccer Coaches Poll of the Year was released last week, and defending state champion Middleton was ranked No. 1.

The Cardinals then went out and showed why.

Middleton defeated Madison Memorial, 2-1, on Sept. 4. The Cardinals then downed DePere, 4-1, last Saturday.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week:

• Middleton 2, Madison Memorial 1 — Sophomore standout Luke Weber scored the game-winning goal in the 74^th minute as the Cardinals notched a huge win over the Spartans.

“Memorial was a great team and gave us one heck of a battle,” Middleton coach Kevin Pauls said.

The Spartans came out with great energy, but Middleton weathered the early storm. Keeper Liev Schiffman had a huge save to keep the game scoreless.

Middleton’s girls tennis team won all four its matches last week.

Here’s a recap:

• Middleton 7, Madison La Follette 0 — The Cardinals notched seven straight set wins and downed the Lancers on Sept. 5.

Singles players Sophia Pientka, Sofia Altuzar, Mira Russo and Shreya Ramesh all notched straight set wins. In doubles play, the teams of Hannah Lister/Elina Koenst, Haley Klatt/Sam Pomroy and Domenica Conrad/Avery West all won in straight sets.

• Middleton 6, Oregon 1 — The Cardinals rolled past the Panthers last Friday.

Pinetka, Altuzar and Russo all had straight set singles wins. In doubles play, the team of Sophie Shi/Sarah Li, Lister/Koenst and Klatt/Pomroy all posted straight set wins.

• Middleton 7, Waunakee 0 — The Cardinals rolled past the Warriors last Saturday.

Middleton boys basketball coach Kevin Bavery was nervous.

So was co-head football coach Tim Simon.

It was April and Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard had opted not to renew the contract of assistant coach Dean Oliver.

Oliver’s son, Isaiah, just happened to be Bavery’s starting point guard and a star wide receiver for Simon’s football team.

Following months of uncertainty, it appeared the two-sport star would be back at Middleton for his junior year after Oliver played the first two football games of 2024. Just before school began, though, the Oliver family moved to Iowa, where Dean grew up and recently landed a new job.

Isaiah is now enrolled at Northwest High School in Waukee, Iowa, a school of 1,427 students. In his first game with his new school last week, Oliver hauled in touchdown receptions of 27 and 22 yards.