Sports

Middleton’s hockey team took a major step towards winning the Big Eight Conference last week.

The Cardinals defeated Madison West, 3-2, in overtime on Jan. 30 and stayed tied atop the conference standings at 9-2 with Verona. Both teams have just one conference game remaining.

Middleton also downed Brookfield, 4-2, last Saturday and improved its overall record to 14-8.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week:

• Middleton 3, Madison West 2 (OT) — Wyatt Ehrhardt scored an even strength goal just 2:25 into overtime propelling the Cardinals past the Regents.

Ian Eberle was brilliant in net, notching 40 saves and picking up the win.

“Our games with West this year have been very competitive, and this one was no different,” Middleton coach Dan Truehl said. “We didn’t have our best stuff from the start so I’m proud of the boys for gutting this one out.”

Middleton’s wrestlers finished in third place at the Big Eight Conference wrestling meet held at Janesville Parker last Saturday.

Sun Prairie won the title with 302.0 points, while host Parker was second (240.0). Middleton was third with 221.5 points, while Janesville Craig (188.5) and Verona (150.0) rounded out the top five.

Middleton’s Sam Zanton won an individual title at 150 pounds and freshman Reed Falk was first at 190. Cardinals senior Bryce Falk finished second at 175, while Tavish Frank (106), Grady Hargrove (120), Pavil Jones (138) and Braden Dzwonkowski (215) all finished third.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s performances:

106 — Tavish Frank (16-12) placed 3rd and scored 20.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Frank received a bye

• Quarterfinal - Frank won by fall over Jude Seaver (Janesville Craig) 12-20 (Fall 4:39)

It was another rough week for Middleton’s girls basketball team.

The Cardinals lost three games and fell to 4-16 on the year and 4-11 in the Big Eight Conference.

Middleton dropped a 77-43 decision to visiting Madison Memorial on Jan. 30. The Cardinals were handed a 49-47 setback at Madison East on Feb. 1. And Middleton fell to Madison La Follette, 64-55, last Saturday.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week:

• Madison Memorial 77, Middleton 43 — The visiting Spartans raced to a 38-20 halftime lead and were never challenged in the second half. Memorial put four players in double figures.

Sophomore Brooke Michelotti led Middleton with 10 points, while Emily Utter added seven points and Hailey Strode scored six.

Middleton’s gymnastics team finished in second place at the eight-team Middleton Invitational last Saturday.

Oconomowoc won the team title with 131.675 points, while the Cardinals were a close second at 129.70. Waukesha North/Catholic Memorial (129.60), Verona/Madison Edgewood (127.20) and Waunakee/DeForest (126.80) rounded out the top five.

“I am so incredibly proud,” Middleton coach Alexis Cairo said. “We are seeing consistent progress. We'll be working hard the next few weeks to really clean up our skills and routines before conference.”

Middleton’s Abby Arnold was fourth in the all-around with a 33.150, while Ana Bollig was seventh (32.40).

Bollig was third on the vault (8.50), while Arnold was seventh (8.450), Aubrey Anderson was 16^th (8.250) and Anja Schmidt-Voils and Aubrey Halverson tied for 20^th (8.150).

It’s ba-a-ack.

Middleton will host the fifth annual ‘Super Noah’ hockey match on Saturday at the Capitol Ice Arena.

The Cardinals will host Brookfield with the JV game set to face off at 5 p.m. and the varsity game to follow at 7 p.m.

But this is more than an ordinary hockey game.

All funds collected at the annual ‘Super Noah’ hockey match will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Children’s Cancer Research Foundations.

“The boys are very excited to be a part of the ‘Super Noah’ game again,” Middleton coach Dan Truehl said. “Over the past few years, they’ve really embraced playing for a greater cause.

“It’s sometimes tough at that age to see how big of an impact they can have on their community and this game allows for them to do and see just that.”

Middleton athletic director Jamie Sims and a panel of eight others will conduct interviews Friday for the school’s vacant head football coaching position.

Sims said there were 16 applicants for the job, and the panel will interview six finalists.

Sims said if things go well, he could have the Cardinals’ next coach in place by the weekend. He’s also open to conducting second interviews next week.

“We’ll do whatever we need to do to get the right person,” Sims said.

Joe Poehls and Tim Simon served as co-head coaches in 2023 when the Cardinals went 9-2, but lost to arch-rival Verona twice, including a 28-26 setback in Level 2 of the WIAA Division 1 playoffs.

Many believed Middleton’s 2023 team had more talent than any MHS team in decades and were disappointed the Cardinals didn’t achieve more.

Sims met with Poehls and Simon on Dec. 13, then opted to post the job.

MILWAUKEE — Tick, tick, tick …

As the calendar turns to February, and the postseason is just one month away, Middleton’s boys basketball team knows time is of the essence.

The Cardinals’ season — one that began with enormous expectations — has clearly hit a crossroads, something that was clearly evident during Middleton’s 70-58 loss to Hartland Arrowhead at Fiserv Forum last Friday.

The Cardinals showed they have all the pieces to succeed by playing Arrowhead — ranked No. 2 in the latest Division 1 poll — to a 29-29 first half tie. But Middleton’s inconsistency, which has been an issue all season, reared its ugly head in the second half.

The result was the Cardinals’ second straight loss and their fifth setback in seven games, dropping Middleton’s record to 8-6. Arrowhead won its 14th straight game since dropping its season-opener against Wisconsin Lutheran, the top-ranked team in Division 2.

Up and down, loopty-loop.

No doubt, Middleton’s boys basketball team went on a thrilling roller-coaster ride last Thursday night against Verona. Fun as it was while it lasted, though, the Cardinals were sick to their stomach when it was over.

Their emotional comeback went for naught and for the third time in three weeks they were dealt a close loss in league play, this time suffering a 79-73, Big Eight Conference defeat at the hands of the Wildcats.

Middleton trailed by 10 at halftime and again by 10 with 4 1/2 minutes gone by in the second half, but slowly clawed back, ultimately going in front 72-67 with 2 minutes, 50 seconds remaining.

Then the Cardinals’ fortunes changed.

“We kind of got sped up at the end there — threw a couple bad passes,” said 6-foot-5 senior Avery Houden, who was integral to the comeback with 10 second-half points after being shut out in the first half. 

MADISON – Looks can be deceiving.

Middleton appeared to have a mismatch when it made its first appearance in the new Madison La Follette Field House to take on the host Lancers last Friday night.

The visiting Cardinals soared to an early 13-point lead against La Follette, which had mustered just one victory in its first 10 games. But if you let the underdog hang around long enough, it can make life interesting.

That was the case as Middleton had to hold off a second-half flurry to pull away for a hard-fought 75-61 victory over La Follette in a Big Eight Conference prep boys basketball game.

“They were playing scramble basketball,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of the Lancers, who relentlessly attacked the rim all night and weren’t shy at pushing the pace of the game. “They spread us out in a way that we didn’t need to be spread out.

If revenge is indeed best served cold, it seemed only fitting that when Middleton hosted Madison Memorial on Jan. 16, the high temperature was zero.

When these teams first met on Nov. 30, Memorial routed the Cardinals, 50-34.

Six weeks later, the Cardinals got their payback on frigid, bone-chilling night with an impressive 71-58 win.

Middleton snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big Eight Conference. Memorial fell to 5-9, 4-5.

Middleton also defeated Memorial for the fifth time in seven meetings.

“They played a lot more man this time around and our guys were very confident and ready for whatever they were going to bring on both ends of the court,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “It didn't matter to us man, zone, or some of the combination defenses they've run in the past.”