Sports

Tue
20
Feb
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Middleton receives No. 10 seed

BROOKFIELD — A big week would have likely landed them a top-eight seed, a home game and a world of momentum.

That didn't happen, though.

Middleton’s boys basketball team dropped two of three games last week, falling to 12-10 overall and 10-6 in the Big Eight Conference. In a tightly grouped sectional, those two losses loomed large as the Cardinals received the No. 10 seed.

Middleton will travel to seventh-seeded Janesville Craig for a WIAA Division 1 regional final on March 1 at 7 p.m. If the Cardinals upset the Cougars (15-8), they would meet the winner of second-seeded Waunakee and 15th-seeded Janesville Parker in a regional final on March 2.

Sat
17
Feb
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Hockey Cards win regional title

The sand was just about all the way through the hourglass when Cam Semrad, Charlie Jambor and Wyatt Ehrhardt came to the rescue.

New life. The Middleton boys hockey team’s season was resuscitated.

Not only that, Patrick Passini’s heroics in the third overtime of Tuesday night’s thrilling WIAA Division 1 regional championship game at Capitol Ice Arena meant the Cardinals’ postseason dreams didn’t die.

Ehrhardt’s goal with a minute remaining in the third period — on a frenzied sequence started by Semrad and Jambor — helped Middleton stave off elimination. Then Passini’s highlight-reel winner with 63 seconds to go in the third overtime delivered a 3-2 victory for the third-seeded Cardinals over sixth-seeded La Crosse Aquinas co-op, sending Middleton into Tuesday’s sectional semifinals against rival Verona.

“This is a game that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” said Passini, a sophomore forward.

Indeed, it was a dandy.

Thu
15
Feb
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MHS swimmers gunning for a repeat

MADISON — Lofty — “rising to a great height; impressively high,” according to Merriam-Webster — is the perfect adjective for the Middleton boys swimming and diving team’s goals this winter.

That list of goals doesn’t just include results, though.

It also includes the process.

“Just trying to have fun — trying to have more fun than last year, which is hard because last year was fun, too,” sophomore Sam Wolf said.

The Cardinals are having their most fun yet following Saturday’s WIAA Division 1 sectional meet at Madison West High School, where they claimed six first-place finishes among the 12 events and cruised to the team title.

Middleton finished with 372 points and easily outdistanced runner-up Madison Memorial (329). Verona (285), Madison West (273) and Sun Prairie West (229) rounded out the top five at the 11-team sectional.

Thu
15
Feb
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Five MHS wrestlers win regional titles

WAUNAKEE – After months of preparation, Middleton’s young wrestling team entered the postseason with high hopes.

But the Cardinals were dealt a serious blow when two-time senior co-captain and returning state place-winner Bryce Falk, who was ranked ninth at 175 pounds by Wisconsin Grappler, was scratched from the starting lineup.

Falk suffered an ankle injury during practice early last week while working out with his younger brother, Reed, who has been his practice partner all season.

“I felt really bad about my brother’s injury because he was predicted to go far at state,” said Reed Falk, a freshman, who was ranked eighth at 190 pounds. “So, I’m trying to make it to state for him and obviously for me, too.

“After what happened in practice, and it was kind of my fault that he got injured, I just really need to make it to state for him.”

Thu
15
Feb
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Hockey Cards win share of Big 8

Back in 2016, Middleton’s current seniors were fourth graders. The Cardinals’ current freshmen were wide-eyed first graders.

That’s the last time Middleton’s hockey program won a Big Eight Conference championship.

That all changed on Feb. 6 when the Cardinals routed Janesville, 6-1, and captured a share of their first Big Eight title in eight years. Middleton and Verona both finished conference play with 10-2 records and tied for the Big Eight’s top spot with 20 points. Madison West was third with 16 points.

“This program has been knocking on the door for the past couple of years, so to get over the hump and win a share of the Big Eight is a huge deal,” Middleton coach Dan Truehl said. “The boys have been dialed in on this goal and I’m so proud of them for achieving it.”

Thu
15
Feb
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Middleton holds off Madison East

MADISON — In the 1982 NCAA men’s basketball championship game, North Carolina led Georgetown, 63-62, in the final seconds.

Hoyas guard Fred Brown dribbled across half court, thought he spotted an open teammate on the right, but instead threw the ball to Tar Heels’ star James Worthy.

Moments later, UNC was the national champion.

On Feb. 8, Middleton senior wing Avery Houden played the role of Worthy in the Cardinals’ dramatic 76-73 win at Madison East.

With Middleton clinging to a three-point lead in the closing seconds, East’s Ebrahim Jarjue stole an inbound pass near the three-point line on the Purgolders’ end of the court. Jarjue thought about launching a 3-pointer, but Middleton’s 7-foot center Will Garlock came flying in his direction.

Jarjue thought he had an open teammate in the right corner and flipped the ball in that direction. Instead, he threw it to an open Houden.

Thu
15
Feb
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Girls basketball team seeded 16th

Their path will be treacherous and hazardous.

And unless they can spring a series of upsets, their journey could also be short.

Middleton’s girls basketball team received the No. 16-seed in its WIAA Division 1 18-team sectional.

The top four teams in the sectional received byes, meaning Middleton will host 17th-seeded Madison West in a regional quarterfinal on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.

The winner of that contest then travels to top-seeded Oregon on Feb. 23 for a regional semifinal. The regional finals are Feb. 24.

Middleton lost its sixth straight game last week and fell to 4-18 on the year. The Cardinals are also 4-13 in the Big Eight Conference, which has them in eighth place out of 10 teams.

Middleton dropped a 45-42 decision to visiting Sun Prairie East on Feb. 6. The Cardinals then fell to visiting Sun Prairie West, 48-34, on Feb. 9.

Thu
15
Feb
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Middleton gymnasts top Parker

Middleton’s gymnasts defeated Janesville Parker, 129.350-108.725 on Feb. 8.

Middleton’s Abby Arnold finished first in the all-around with a 32.925 score, while Ana Bollig was second (30.450).

Aubrey Anderson was first on the vault with an 8.30, while Arnold was second (8.10), Aubrey Halverson was fifth (7.90) and Sophie Pop-Vicas was seventh (7.650).

Kenavan Lindner was first on the uneven bars (8.30), while Arnold was second (7.90), Halverson was third (7.850) and Bollig was fourth (7.250).

Eva Szczepanski won the balance beam (8.925), while Pop-Vicas was second (8.325), Bollig was third (8.050) and Buna Karanezi was fourth (7.975).

And on the floor exercise, Arnold was first (8.975), Jaelynn Kemp was second (8.30), Halverson was third (7.850) and Bollig was fifth (7.650).

Thu
08
Feb
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Poehls, Simon named Middleton's co-head football coaches

Their philosophies and principles are in lock step.

They’ve been friends for nearly two decades.

And both felt their first year splitting one of the top jobs in the state went extremely well.

So Joe Poehls and Tim Simon — who served as Middleton’s interim co-head football coaches in 2023 — will continue their partnership. Only now, the interim label is gone.

Simon and Poehls were two of six men that interviewed for the position on Feb. 2. When they emerged as the top choices, they told MHS administrators they’d like to continue as co-head coaches.

Middleton’s brass then signed off on that plan, meaning the program will have a pair of familiar faces in charge for the foreseeable future.

“Obviously I’m extremely excited,” Poehls said. “I love the program, love the community, love the school.

Thu
08
Feb
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Middleton mixes it up, tops Parker

Something happened late in Middleton’s boys basketball team’s loss to Janesville Craig on Jan. 30.

Cardinals coach Kevin Bavery got an idea.

He was going to take a hockey approach to substitutions.

“We told our players (the next night), we’re not going to keep doing the same thing. We’re just not,” Bavery said of subbing four or five players in at a time, in roughly two-minute increments, as a way to try and solve a month-long losing stretch that saw defeats in six of eight games. “So we decided we’re going to go to ‘shifting.’

“We just wanted to say, ‘Hey, we have to start playing with more energy. We have to start playing harder. So you’re going to go in for about two minutes — so if you start the game at 18 minutes, you know at 16 you’re coming out — so why are you going to do anything other than just play hard?”

Bavery didn’t actually compare the strategy to hockey, though. He chose track and field instead.

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