Sports

Iron sharpens iron.

It’s a philosophy Middleton boys soccer coach Kevin Pauls full embraces.

That’s why Pauls and the Cardinals — who are the defending WIAA Division 1 champions — set up a daunting schedule every season.

Last week, that meant the No. 4 Cardinals ventured to the star-studded Great River Classic in Bettendorf, Iowa. And Middleton played extremely well all weekend, going 2-1 against some of the top teams in the Midwest.

Middleton also defeated Madison East, 3-2, on Sept. 24, making it a week Pauls and his Cardinals were awfully happy with.

“I'll take a 3-1 week, given one was a conference opponent in East and one was (a win) over the top team in Illinois,” Pauls said. “We will continue to work and get better as we push to the post season just a couple weeks away.”

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

GREAT RIVER CLASSIC

VERONA – Take away a three-minute stretch and there was little difference between the Verona and Middleton High School football teams during their Big Eight Conference battle last Friday.

Unfortunately that small stretch made all the difference.

Locked in a scoreless duel deep into the second quarter, things quickly turned in Verona’s favor. The Wildcats scored a pair of touchdowns in a 63-second stretch late in the first half.

Tre Poteat, Verona’s star defensive back, then returned the second half kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and a commanding 21-0 lead.

Verona leaned on its defense the rest of the way and held on for a 21-7 victory over the Cardinals.

“I’m disappointed in the score, but I thought the effort was good,” Middleton co-coach Tim Simon said. “We didn’t make a lot of mistakes, but just enough where that shows.”

The top boys volleyball teams in Wisconsin were present.

The elite players in the state were on hand.

Middleton hosted the Cardinal Invite last Saturday, a star-studded tournament featuring the top-five teams in the state.

In many ways, this tournament could be a preview of next month’s state tournament. And that could be good news for Middleton.

The third-ranked Cardinals went 4-1 on the day and fell to No. 1 Sussex Hamilton, in the championship match, 18-25, 25-22, 15-13. The Chargers went on to sweep Kimberly in the championship match, while there was no third place match.

“On the day I was super impressed by the level of play and you certainly can't complain about playing the best competition in the state all day,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said. “I'm super proud of the guys for how they competed throughout the tournament, but certainly there's always more things to work on.”

The WIAA Division 1 state meet isn't until Nov. 2.

A case could certainly be made, though, the real state meet takes place every year at the Midwest Invite in Janesville.

Middleton’s boys had a solid showing at the event, finishing 14^th out of 52 teams. Amazingly, 14 of the state’s top 20 teams were on hand, as well as several standout teams from Illinois.

“Needless to say, this was an extremely deep field this year, definitely the best I have ever seen,” Middleton coach Brian Finnel said. “Honestly, I was hoping for a sixth to ninth place finish for us.”

Green Bay Preble won the event with 178 points, while Brookfield East (196) was second. Middleton finished with 382 points.

Verona and Madison West — two teams that will be in Middleton’s sectional later this month — were fourth and 10^th, respectively.

It wasn’t easy.

It rarely is when teams travel to Evansville Golf Club.

In the end, though, Middleton’s girls golf team did what it does virtually every year — they captured a Big Eight Conference title.

Middleton, which trailed Verona by 14 shots at one point, rallied to win the conference championship. The Cardinals shot a 344, while the Wildcats were second with a 356. Janesville Craig (381), Madison West (394) and Janesville Parker (405) rounded out the top five.

“Evansville always presents a challenge,” Middleton coach Becky Halverson said. “But the girls really stepped up when it mattered.”

They sure did.

Middleton shot a 184 on the front nine, while Verona carded a 176 and appeared poised for an enormous upset. But the Cardinals shot a 160 on the back nine — an improvement of 24 shots.

Middleton’s girls swimming team stayed unbeaten in the Big Eight Conference with a 137-27 win over Madison East on Sept. 27.

The Cardinals captured the top three spots in nine of the 11 events.

“Our team had a good meet vs. East,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman said. “We had a chance to swim some kids in some off events, and also have some girls who haven't had a chance to race as often this year swim.”

Middleton’s 200-yard relay team of Brynn Sundell, Lydia Keebler, Gianna Gabert and Addie Dorn was first. The foursome of Poppy Sickler, Ellie Wolf, Poppy Wedding and Izzy Ensenberger was second, while the quartet of Tavin Boxwell, Sophia Walker, Lilyana Munguia-Browere and Sabrina Bartlett was third.

Middleton’s girls tennis team won all three of its matches at the Madison West Invite last Friday and Saturday.

The Cardinals edged Madison West, 4-3, and downed Elkhorn, 5-2, last Friday. Middleton then downed Green Bay Notre Dame, 4-3, last Saturday.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ matches:

• Middleton 4, Madison West 3 — The Cardinals won three of four singles matches and downed the host Regents.

Lydia Sabat posted a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles and Sophia Pientka notched a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles. Mira Russo also won at No. 4 singles.

Middleton also picked a win at No. 3 doubles, where Haley Klatt and Sam Pomroy posted a 6-2, 6-2 win.

• Middleton 5, Elkhorn 2 — The Cardinals won all three doubles matches and toppled the Elks last Friday.

Sophie Shi and Sarah Li rolled at No. 1 doubles, while the teams of Hannah Lister/Elina Koenst and Klatt/Pomroy notched wins at No. 2 and 3 doubles.

Middleton standout wide receiver Troy Teff used the word “eager.”

Cardinals star linebacker Tyler Vogt picked the term “intense.”

And MHS co-coach Joe Poehls knows it’s going to be “exciting.”

When Middleton travels to Verona Friday at 7 p.m., it’s safe this matchup of the Big Eight Conference big boys will be all that — and then some.

The Wildcats are 5-0 overall, lead the Big Eight at 3-0 and are ranked No. 3 in the latest Wissports.net poll. Middleton is 3-2, 2-1, and can move into a tie for first place in the league with a win.

Verona has won the last three games in this series, and the Cardinals would love nothing more than to hand the Wildcats their first loss of 2024.

JANESVILLE — Late last Thursday, Janesville Parker’s football team headed to its locker room and the faithful fans at Monterey Stadium gave the host Vikings a standing ovation.

Out on the field, Middleton co-coaches Joe Poehls and Tim Simon were scolding their team about what went wrong.

Anyone who glanced at the scoreboard and saw the 26-14 result would have assumed the Vikings were the victors.

Instead, it was the other way around — which is telling for both teams.

Middleton left Parker with a 12-point win, but was extremely disappointed with how it played. Parker, which is still looking for its first win of the season, took solace in the fact they hung with the heavily-favored Cardinals all night.

So as Middleton headed to its bus, it knew it had to be better — much better — starting this Friday when it travels to No. 3 Verona.

The names and faces change.

The results rarely do.

Middleton’s girls golf team, which lost first-team all-state player Vivian Cressman from last year’s team, hasn’t missed a beat. And the Cardinals locked up their 11th straight Big Eight Conference dual meet title on Sept. 16.

Middleton fired a 323 team score to capture a triangular held at Pleasant View Golf Course. Sun Prairie West was a distant second at 423, while Madison Memorial was third at 459.

Middleton finished the dual meet season 9-0 and has gone 99-0-1 in conference duals since Becky Halverson became the Cardinals’ coach in 2013.