Sports

Middleton’s boys swimming and diving team continued their terrific season last week, finishing first at the Sun Prairie Triangular.

Middleton bested Sun Prairie, 116-54. The Cardinals also cruised past Madison East, 132-38.

Middleton finished the Big Eight Conference dual meet season with a 7-2 record, good for third place.

“The triple dual went really well,” Middleton coach Luke Lengfeld said. “We finished our dual meet season on a high note and I'm looking forward to the championship meets. The guys swam well.”

Middleton’s 200 yard medley relay team of Cooper Green, Matthew Kim, Lex Peterson and Zach Parkin was first in 1:42.74. The Cardinals’ quartet of Hans Kunsch, Rory Slattery, Jacob Aegerter and Connor Wildes was third in 1:47.44

Jackson Uselman was first in the 200 yard freestyle (1:48.33) and Jack McGovern was third (1:48.86).

Parkin (48.79), McGovern (50.14) and Nick Lund (50.29) went 1-2-3 in the 100 yard freestyle.

The WIAA hockey playoffs are less than three weeks away.

And Middleton is picking the perfect time to play some of its best hockey of the season.

The Cardinals stretched their winning streak to six games last week with a pair of impressive road wins.

Middleton defeated Monona Grove, 6-3, on Friday. The Cardinals then turned around and toppled Janesville, 2-1, in overtime last Saturday.

Middleton improved to 12-3 overall and is second in the Big Eight Conference at 8-2.

“The weekend went well,” Middleton coach Steve Libert said. “Friday night we played with energy and really pushed the pace of the game. Saturday we came out a bit listless, but as the game went on, we got better and better.”

Middleton got two goals and an assist from Danny Klagos in its win over Monona Grove. Clayton Brown had a goal and two assists, Jake Bunz and Taylor Dickert both had a goal and an assist, while Jordan Hylbert had a goal.

JANESVILLE — Derek Rongstad and Middleton’s boys basketball team have seen it happen too many times before.

You let an inferior opponent hang around, you give it life, and you can eventually pay the price.

The Cardinals made sure that didn’t happen last Friday.

Middleton went to Janesville Parker, scored the first 17 points of the game, and cruised to an 85-59 win. The Cardinals built a 48-22 halftime lead, stretched their advantage to 72-30 in the second half and posted their most decisive win of the year.

“We definitely didn’t want a slow start against a team like Parker,” said Rongstad, the Cardinals’ standout junior guard. “We thought if we could get off to a big start, they might lay down a little bit.”

Rongstad scored a game-high 23 points in just three quarters. Rongstad made 7-of-14 shots, including five of Middleton’s 12 three-pointers.

Derek Ott has been through it all at Middleton High School.

Two WIAA Division 1 boys state soccer tournaments. Countless games against top flight competition and high-end players.

It all has Ott ready for college soccer — something he’ll experience at Northern Illinois.

Ott, one of the finest players in Middleton history, committed to NIU last week.

“Many experiences at MHS will prepare me for NIU,” Ott said. “Playing at MHS has allowed me to experience what it feels like to play with a lot of pressure and how to succeed and deal with the pressure.

“I got to play very good teams and players, which will prepare me for the college game. All the great teammates that I’ve had also have taught me a lot of things.”

Ott, a senior midfielder, was a two-time all-state performer for the Cardinals.

A Big Eight Conference championship might be a longshot.

But the way Middleton’s hockey team is playing right now, everything else remains a distinct possibility.

The Cardinals put on a clinic last week, drilling Sun Prairie, 7-1, last Tuesday and following that with an 8-0 rout of Madison Memorial on Friday.

Middleton has now won four straight games and improved to 10-3 overall. The Cardinals are in second place in the conference at 7-2, but remain two games behind league-leading Verona (7-0) in the loss column.

“Great to see us play with some moxie in the offensive zone,” Middleton co-coach Steve Liberty said. “The forwards really were in attack mode on the forecheck and in front of the net. A physical presence in front of the net is necessary for us to have success.”

Success in Sun Prairie is never easy. Sun Prairie is always one of the area’s top home teams, and early on, it appeared this would be much of the same.

It would have been easy for a letdown.

Less than 48 hours after Middleton’s boys basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Madison Memorial, the Cardinals welcomed Beloit Memorial to town last Saturday afternoon.

“The Beloit coach (Jay Bryant) told me after the game he thought we were flat during warm-ups and he thought they could get us,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “He knew it would be easy to be a little emotionally drained after our Madison Memorial game.”

Turns out the Cardinals were just fine.

Junior guard Derek Rongstad scored 22 points and junior guard Luke Schafer added 10 as Middleton bested Beloit, 63-52. Purple Knights junior forward Andre Neal also scored 22 points.

The Cardinals improved to 7-7 overall and 6-5 in the Big Eight Conference. Beloit Memorial fell to 4-10, 3-7.

There’s a general belief that two months into a basketball season, you simply are who you are.

Middleton’s girls basketball coach Jeff Kind disagrees.

“I don’t think that’s always true,” Kind said. “There’s still time to get things fixed.”

Kind and his Cardinals certainly hope so.

Middleton had another frustrating outing last Friday, falling to visiting Madison La Follette, 51-46.

The Cardinals dropped to 6-5 overall, 4-3 in the Big Eight Conference and now sit three games behind league-leading Janesville Parker (10-1, 8-0) in the loss column. Middleton slipped to fifth place overall in the conference, and its run of six straight league titles is almost certainly over.

“We can’t worry about that right now,” Kind said. “We just have to worry about getting better and make sure we’re playing our best basketball at the end of the year.”

Two consistent problems reared their ugly head against the Lancers (8-3, 7-1).

Middleton’s girls gymnastics team didn’t field a full team at last Saturday’s Madison East Invitational.

But the Cardinals still had enough talent and depth to place second overall.

Verona/Madison Edgewood won the event with a 132.55 team score and Middleton was second at 131.675.

Cardinals standout Aryn Skibba only competed on the bars, yet Middleton was nearly able to win the title.

“I think it really speaks to the depth on our team when we can come in second out of eight teams in our conference and sectional without our highest individual scorer on three events,” Middleton coach Kari Steck said. “I'm not sure many teams in the area could do that. It shows how hard each one of the girls on the team works on a daily basis, and how strong of a team we are.”

Middleton’s boys swimming and diving team took second place at the 11-team Middleton Invitational last Saturday.

Madison Memorial won the title with 448 points, while Middleton was second at 384. Verona/Mount Horeb (362), Madison West (356) and McFarland (316) rounded out the top five.
“A lot of great swims for all the guys, a lot of great times from our relays overall,” Middleton coach Luke Lengfeld said. “Our depth really helped us with our second place victory.” 

Middleton’s quartet of Zack Parkin, Jack McGovern, Nick Lund and Jackson Uselman won the 800 yard freestyle. The Cardinals’ foursome of Lars Haskins, McGovern, Lex Peterson and Uselman was also first in the 500 yard free relay.

Middleton’s quartet of Cooper Green, Matthew Kim, Jacob Aegerter and Haskins was third in the 200 yard medley. The Cardinals’ foursome of Aegerter, Peterson, James Mai and Nick Lund was also third in the 300 yard fly.

The Streak was over. Finally. Or so it seemed.

Middleton’s student body stormed the floor at Madison Memorial. The Cardinals’ boys basketball team celebrated. The coaching staff was giddy.

Then, in a flash, it all went poof.

Middleton led Madison Memorial, 60-59, as the clock expired Thursday night. But referees ruled that Spartans coach Steve Collins called timeout with 2 seconds left.

Memorial’s Jester Weah inbounded from three-quarters court and hit Shareef Smith racing down the right sideline. Smith took one dribble, pulled up from 22-feet and drained a three-pointer as the horn sounded.

Madison Memorial 62, Middleton 60.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Cardinals junior guard Derek Rongstad, who led all scorers with 18 points. “We thought it was done. I still can’t believe it.”