Sports

As sports have grown and intensified over the past generation, the offseason can be almost as arduous as the regular season.

For Rob Kleinschmidt, those demands have led to change inside Middleton’s boys volleyball program.

Kleinschmidt, the Cardinals’ head coach since 2020, recently stepped down from that position and will become Middleton’s lead assistant. On the flip side, Dylan Griffith — a 2019 MHS graduate and a four-year assistant with the program — moves from the top assistant position to the Cardinals’ head coach.

“I've been head coach on several different levels and know what is required to be the head coach and leader of a program,” Kleinschmidt said. “It is a lot of work, both in-season and out-of-season. 

It was a tumultuous year inside Middleton’s athletic department.

There was a bullying scandal in the football program. The legendary Dave Miller, an assistant wrestling coach, and tennis coach Henry Johnson were fired by athletic director Jamie Sims in a pair of head scratching moves.

Along the way, Sims, superintendent Dana Monogue and principal Peg Shoemaker drew the ire of many in the community for the multiple firings and their lack of transparency. The once-proud football program also had multiple candidates turn down the vacant coaching position after Jason Pertzborn resigned in January.

Amazingly, all this drama did nothing to slow the Cardinal Train. Instead, Middleton did what it typically does — win and win big.

The Cardinals enjoyed success from August to June, capturing conference titles, sectional crowns and state championships along the way.

Each year, the Times-Tribune picks the best of the best.

BLACK EARTH – The Home Talent League took a page this season from Major League Baseball by adopting an extra-inning ‘ghost runner’ rule to help speed up the game.

Second baseman Keegan Fleischman took advantage of the rule change to drive in the eventual game-winning run with a lead-off double in the top of the 10^th inning as Ashton rolled to a 7-2 victory over host Black Earth in an HTL Northern Section Eastern Division game at Jerry Barsness Field on Sunday.

“We had a conversation with the umpires, me and Derrick (Rothwell) right before the inning started,” center fielder/co-manager Logan Ziegler said. “Runner on second, is there anyone out?  Is there a count? I used to play travel ball where you had one out, a 1-1 count, and a runner on second. But they said they were pretty much copying MLB rules. So it was runner on second, no one out.”

Ashton (9-2), though, didn’t need the help.

The battle for supremacy inside the Northern Section’s East Division has been intense all season. Things got even crazier Sunday when divisional leaders Middleton and Waunakee squared off.

When the dust settled, Middleton stayed atop the division, while Waunakee slipped back to the pack.

Middleton’s Brennan Schmitt had a walk-off, 10^th-inning single that scored Hunter Bindl and gave the host 29ers a 9-8 win. Middleton improved to 9-2 and stayed tied with Ashton atop the division, while Waunakee fell to 8-3.

“It was a good, team victory against a really good Waunakee team,” Middleton player/manager Jacob Ross said.

Middleton pounded out 12 hits, drew six walks and had three batters hit with pitches. Schmitt led the 29ers with three hits, two walks and the game-winner.

“We got contributions from the entire lineup,” Ross said.

It was a tumultuous year inside Middleton’s athletic department.

There was a bullying scandal in the football program. The legendary Dave Miller, an assistant wrestling coach, and tennis coach Henry Johnson were fired by athletic director Jamie Sims in a pair of head scratching moves.

Along the way, Sims, superintendent Dana Monogue and principal Peg Shoemaker drew the ire of many in the community for the multiple firings and their lack of transparency. The once-proud football program also had multiple candidates turn down the vacant coaching position after Jason Pertzborn resigned in January.

Amazingly, all this drama did nothing to slow the Cardinal Train. Instead, Middleton did what it typically does — win and win big.

The Cardinals enjoyed success from August to June, capturing conference titles, sectional crowns and state championships along the way.

Each year, the Times-Tribune picks the best of the best.

Life is full of surprises.

Just ask Middleton’s Carter Kadow, who grew up with his sights set on playing college basketball.

Kadow, a 6-foot-7, 260-pound senior, recently accepted an NCAA Division I football scholarship to Rutgers University.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for Kadow, who suffered an ACL injury his sophomore year, then played tight end last year before making the switch to the offensive line this spring.

“I used to think basketball was what I was going to do because I played AAU basketball while I was growing up,” Kadow said. “I really thought basketball was my route.”

Kadow took an official visit to Indiana and received an offer from the Hoosiers on June 17. He then committed to Rutgers on June 25 after attending the Scarlet Knights’ Big Man Academy camp in Piscataway, N.J.

The Middleton-Cross Plains School Board approved a proposal Monday to name its basketball court “Jeff Kind Court.”

Kind, Middleton’s girls coach from 1993-2022, was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018. He compiled a remarkable 578-256 career record and is the sixth-winningest girls coach in state history.

“I am extremely grateful for the honor,” Kind said Tuesday morning. “It is, to me, a recognition, not only of my time and work, but also a commemoration to all the wonderful players, the array of excellent assistant coaches, all the fabulous colleagues and the tremendous support of the school and community who all contributed to our successes over the years.

“There are innumerable memories in that gym for so many people and I feel so fortunate to have been a part of that and just wish to humbly express my gratitude to everyone who contributed to this recognition.”

They were one of the surprise teams in the Big Eight Conference — and really the entire state.

So it was no surprise that Middleton’s baseball team was extremely well-represented on the all-Big Eight Conference team.

Senior pitchers Jacob Guerrero and Noah Schmitt were both named first-team all-conference. Senior catcher Wyatt Baird and senior first baseman Alden Cleary were both named second-team all-league, while senior shortstop Hayden Hellenbrand, senior center fielder Jackson Rademacher and freshman second baseman Jackson Guerrero were named honorable-mention all-Big Eight.

Those seven sensational Cardinals helped lead Middleton to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament for the first time since 2016.

“Overall, we had a lot of great leadership on the team this year,” Middleton manager Brent Jorgensen said. “We had a team full of leaders who stepped up and stepped into different roles throughout the season.

Rick Vander Sanden broke down and cried.

Hudson Cleary and K.J. Peterson told stories why Brad Rogeberg meant the world to them.

Parents, co-workers and coaching colleagues sang Rogeberg’s praises.

Roughly 65 community members descended on the Middleton-Cross Plains School Board meeting Monday night asking that Rogeberg be re-instated as the strength and conditioning coordinator at Middleton High School.

Rogeberg, a football coach in the district since 1991 and the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator since 2019, was fired from both jobs in the aftermath of a bullying scandal inside Middleton’s football program last season. Rogeberg did keep his job as a Physical Education—Health teacher.

Former Middleton football coach Jason Pertzborn resigned from both his teaching position at MHS and his football job on Jan. 26. 

Middleton’s girls softball team enjoyed a terrific season in which it won 18 games and finished fourth in the loaded Big Eight Conference.
So it seemed fitting that the Cardinals had four players named to the all-Big Eight team.

Freshman catcher Hailey Stroede was named first-team all-conference, while sophomore pitcher Megan Button and junior infielder Mackenzie Zimmerman were named second-team all-league. Freshman infielder Annika Jafferis was also named honorable-mention all-Big Eight.

“It's easy to talk about these four student-athletes. Great players, yes, and even better people,” Middleton coach Brittany Carl said. “All bring those intangibles to the table that really make a program better from the inside out. We're excited to have them all back next year.”

Stroede batted .416 with a .454 on-base percentage. She had a team-high 42 hits, including 16 extra base hits.
She also had 29 RBI, scored 21 runs and walked six times.