Sports

Ryan Groy is one of the finest football players to ever don a Middleton uniform.

The 2009 MHS graduate went on to have a stellar career at the University of Wisconsin, then played for six teams during a seven-year career in the National Football League.

Today, Groy is back in the area and trying to help Middleton’s offense reach new heights.

Groy, a volunteer assistant, spent much of the offseason helping tweak various parts of the Cardinals’ offense. Early on in fall practices, the results have been noticeable.

“Groy is a stud,” Middleton defensive coordinator Brad Rogeberg said. “What we’re doing now with Ryan is night and day. We were pretty basic, I’m not going to lie. But he’s helped change our offense. We’re going to be a lot more unpredictable.”

As Jeff Kind mowed his lawn in past summers, he would think about the upcoming basketball season the entire time. 

Who would his starters be? Could the newcomers help? How did the Big Eight Conference look? 

Middleton’s veteran girls basketball coach pondered all scenarios.

As Kind mowed his lawn on Monday afternoon, though, basketball never crossed his mind.

That’s because earlier that day, the 68-year-old Kind submitted his resignation.

After 44 years of coaching, including the last 30 at Middleton, Kind decided it was the right time to step away.

Kind, who was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018, exits with a remarkable 578-256 career record. Kind also leaves as the sixth-winningest girls coach in state history.

Jeff Kind, Middleton’s girls basketball coach from 1993-2022, resigned Monday.

Kind, who was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018, also coached the varsity girls basketball teams at Kohler and Cuba City for five years each. Kind finished his brilliant career with a 634-291 record and as the fifth-winningest girls coach in state history.

Kind led the Cardinals to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament 12 times and guided Middleton to 11 Big Eight Conference championships.

Here’s a sampling of what several former players and coaches said about Kind.

The 2022 golf season marks the 10^th year Becky Halverson has led Middleton’s girls program.

And what a decade it’s been.

In Halverson’s first nine seasons, Middleton has reached the WIAA Division 1 state tournament every year.

In that time, Halverson’s Cardinals have won three Division 1 state tournaments, matching Hartland Arrowhead for the most in the state. Middleton also has two second place finishes and three thirds — making it the state’s most successful program since 2013.

Look for Halverson’s 10^th season to be every bit as enjoyable as her first nine.

Middleton returns three golfers from last year’s team that finished third at state and has a handful of other players ready to make their mark. And when the Cardinals begin their season at the Washington County Invite Thursday, expectations will once again be sky high for White’s sensational program.

The life-altering call came a few minutes before the actual announcement itself.

Alan Roden, arguably the greatest baseball player in Middleton history and a recent graduate of Creighton University, was in Massachusetts Monday watching the Major League Baseball draft unfold.

With the draft midway through the third round and at pick 91, Roden got a call from his advisor saying the Toronto Blue Jays would be taking him with the 98^th overall selection.

“I was really excited,” said Roden, a 2018 MHS graduate. “But it was still a few picks away, so I was still pretty nervous.”

That uneasiness quickly turned to euphoria.

Toronto held true to its word and used its third-round pick on Roden. And in doing so, Roden made history in several places.

Sierra Pertzborn chose May 5 to post her college decision on social media, as the 6-foot-3 middle blocker/right side on the Middleton High School volleyball team shared on Twitter that she chose the University of Toledo (Ohio).

She was wearing a T-shirt to match her choice, puffing it out a bit for effect.

Pertzborn's Middleton teammate Jordan LaScala had a similar idea for making her announcement that she picked UW-Milwaukee. But unlike Pertzborn, LaScala’s was an exercise in patience.

LaScala, a 6-foot outside hitter, had already informed the coaches at UWM of her decision, doing so in late June.

Informing the rest of the Twitterverse, though, would have to wait a bit.

Sweaty from nine innings of work in mid-80s summer heat Sunday afternoon at Baer Park, Drew Meinholz found the best way to cool off.

His teammates gave him an ice water bath.

The kind reserved for celebration.

Meinholz scattered four hits and six walks across 112 pitches, but didn’t budge on the scoreboard. Meinholz tossed a complete-game shutout in the Cross Plains Businessmen's 5-0 victory over the visiting Ashton A's in a critical late-season contest between the East Division rivals in the Home Talent League's Northern Section.

“That was nice,” Meinholz said of the Gatorade cooler of water getting emptied out on him. “I expected it coming, but I didn't see them coming. It was a big game for me — it was a very big game for me.”

“We were trying to get his attention somewhere else,” added Businessmen manager Randy Meinholz, Drew's father. “I think he earned it today.”

Terrific pitching.

Solid hitting.

And stellar defense.

Middleton’s Home Talent League team had all three phases working on Sunday when the 29ers routed Plain, 8-0. That shouldn't have come as a surprise, though, as Middleton has had all three parts working all season.

The 29ers improved to 12-0 on the season and have the No. 1 seed in the Northern Section wrapped up. The top two teams in each division make the playoffs, then the next four teams with the best record (regardless of division) also qualify.

The 29ers conclude the regular season with a trip to Ashton on Sunday, then the playoffs begin July 31.

“The team played another really good game today,” Middleton manager Brandon Hellenbrand said.

Parker Van Buren, a 2020 Middleton High School graduate and a rising sophomore outside hitter on the Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team, is currently playing for the U.S. men's volleyball team at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six in Tepic, Mexico. 

The Pan American Cup Final Six is a route for teams to qualify for the 2023 NORCECA Continental Championship, the 2023 Pan American Games of Santiago, Chile and the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.
Also competing at the Pan American Cup Final Six are teams from Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The 2021-22 school year marked a return to normalcy for most of Middleton’s sports teams.

It also meant another year of tremendous success.

The Cardinals enjoyed terrific seasons and individual performances in a bevy of sports.

Last week, we honored Middleton’s girls, and this week we’re recognizing the boys.

Team of the Year: Tennis

Marquette. Hartland Arrowhead. Menomonee Falls.

And almost everybody else that got in their way.

Middleton’s boys tennis team enjoyed a sensational season, rolling past almost everyone on its schedule. The Cardinals cruised through the Big Eight Conference with a 9-0 mark, won the conference tournament and reached the state semifinals.

But Middleton’s dream season ended there, when it dropped a 4-3 match to Neenah — a team the Cardinals had upended earlier in the year.