Sports

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Middleton’s boys soccer team, which won the WIAA Division 1 state championship last year, is finding that out right now.

Every time the Cardinals take the pitch, their opponent gives maximum effort with hopes of knocking off the king.

For the most part, Middleton has done a magnificent job handling almost every test thrown its way. Last Friday, though, Marquette handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season, a 2-1 setback at the Brookfield East Tournament.

Middleton — which also defeated Madison La Follete, Verona and Wauwatosa West last week — is 6-1 this season and 3-0 in the Big Eight Conference. The Cardinals are also ranked No. 2 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s extremely busy week.

• Middleton 4, Madison La Follette 1 — Eli Knutowski had a pair of goals and the Cardinals downed the Lancers on Sept. 10.

Thanks to a scheduling quirk, it had been four years since Verona’s girls volleyball team came to Middleton.

When the Wildcats finally made the trip west on Sept. 12, the Cardinals couldn't wait for their shot at the defending Big Eight Conference champs.

Middleton made the most of it, too, rolling to a 25-21, 25-22, 25-20 win over the Wildcats. Middleton improved to 3-0 in the Big Eight, while Verona fell to 2-1.

Middleton, Sun Prairie East and Sun Prairie West are all tied for first place in the league early in the conference season.

“I know the team was really looking forward to having Verona come to Middleton for a match,” Cardinals’ coach Ben White said.

Middleton played like it, too.

Middleton’s girls golf team won the 20-team Janesville Parker Invite last Saturday.

Middleton shot a 318 and easily outdistanced runner-up Brookfield Central (336). Waunakee (344), Edgewood (345) and Verona (348) rounded out the top five.

Middleton junior Annika Jafferis captured medalist honors with a 3-over par, 75. MHS seniors Maddy Wilcox and Emily Utter tied for third with 80s, while juniors Sydney Weiss and Addie Sloan tied for seventh with 83s.

“The girls all played really well,” Middleton coach Becky Halverson said. “They all had great attitudes all day and played like they were capable of playing. It was nice to see all of them having a good day out there.

Jafferis made three birdies on the front nine and shot 1-under-par on that side. Jafferis carded a 40 on the back nine to finish her stellar round.

Wilcox’s solid day included three birdies, while Utter fired an even-par, 36, on the back nine.

Former Middleton girls golf standout Vivian Cressman has been selected as one of the recipients of the 2024 Lou Warobick's Junior Golf Foundation Sportsmanship Scholarship awards.

Cressman currently attends the United States Naval Academy.

The scholarships are awarded annually to college bound high school senior boys and girls from Wisconsin who best exemplify good sportsmanship and contributions to their school and community. Golf coaches, athletic departments, golf professionals, associations and other golf officials throughout Wisconsin nominate high school seniors.

Accord to the Foundation, Cressman’s willingness to volunteer her time for several organizations in her community and at Middleton High School elevated her to the top of the list of nominations.

The scholarships are meant to promote good sportsmanship. They are named in memory of Wisconsin State Golf Hall of Fame honoree, Lou Warobick. 

Middleton’s girls tennis team faced some of the best players and teams in the state last weekend at the Nicolet Sweet 16 Invite.
And the Cardinals hung tough throughout.

Here’s a recap of how the Cardinals performed at each flight.

No. 1 singles — Lydia Sabat defeated Neenah’s Izzy Murray, 5-7, 7-5, 10-8 in her first match. Sabat fell in her second match, though, 6-1, 6-0, to eventual champion Clare Schaefer of Whitefish Bay.

No. 2 singles — Sophia Pientka defeated West Bend East’s Skyler Rundberg, 6-0, 6-2, in her first match. Pientka then lost to Neenah’s Celia Gentile, 6-4, 6-7, 10-5.

No. 3 singles — Middleton’s Sofia Altuzar won a pair of matches before falling in the semifinals.

A flock of future Cardinals were treated to quite a show when the Middleton football program hosted ‘Youth Night’ last Friday.

First, the defense forced a pair of early turnovers to help Middleton take a quick lead.

Later, after visiting Madison Memorial responded with a scoring splurge, the Cardinals stormed back and capped a thrilling first half when junior quarterback Joey Passaglia and junior wide receiver Chase Rogers combined for a scoring drive for the ages heading into halftime.

But the dynamic duo and their MHS teammates learned a valuable lesson in the process.

It’s not how you start that matters most, but how you finish.

Madison Memorial took advantage of a late turnover to set up senior Ty Aparicio’s 21-yard game-winning field goal with 3 seconds remaining to lift the Spartans to a 38-35 win in a thrilling Big Eight Conference opener at Breitenbach Stadium.

Middleton girls volleyball coach Ben White joked with his team during practice last Friday.

White told his team that he’d coached in 19 Cardinal Invites at Middleton High School and never won one. Then he said, “It would be pretty cool if we were able to do something this year that we were never able to do before.”

Little did White know his team would deliver.

Middleton went 4-0 on the day — highlighted by three different three-set wins — and captured the Cardinal Invite.

The tournament was also a Spike Out Cancer event that raised funds for the American Cancer Society. White was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2019, but has been in remission now roughly 4 ½ years.

“It was a special day for myself,” White said of the Cardinal Invite. “It was great to see so many teams participate and wear special jerseys, socks or warm-up T-shirts.”

Middleton’s play was awfully impressive, too.

VERONA — Just two weeks into the season and Middleton’s girls swimming and diving team already has one of its biggest meets of the year in the books.

It was a resounding success.

Freshman Jane Garlock won two events, sophomore Brynn Sundell won two others and the Cardinals swept all three relays while showcasing their depth en route to a convincing 107-79, Big Eight Conference win over host Verona last Friday.

The matchup featured the top two teams at last year’s WIAA Division 1 state meet and perhaps the two greatest challengers for this year’s crown, as well.

“It was a big meet to have a couple weeks into the season,” said Sundell, who was fifth in the 500-yard freestyle, sixth in the 200 free and on a pair of top-six finishing relays to help the Cardinals to the state title in 2023. “We did a great job of being loud, cheering for everyone and really pushing everyone so they can go fast.”

Brian Finnel has been around the sport of cross country for a long time.

On Saturday, though, Middleton’s boys cross country coach experienced something he’d never seen before.

The results of the star-studded Verona Invitational were in and it appeared the Cardinals had finished third.

Finnel, curious about the times, discovered only six of Middleton’s seven runners had been counted in the final scoring. After consulting with the timing crew, they all discovered Zach Tang’s time had not been recorded.

After re-calculating the numbers, Middleton jumped from third to first, edging Madison West for the championship at this 11-team event. Middleton finished with 70 points and nipped the Regents (71) for the team title. Madison La Follette (90), Verona (93) and Sun Prairie East (117) rounded out the top five.

Kelly Julian views Middleton’s girls cross country team like a puzzle.

Julian, the Cardinals’ co-head coach, believes she has all the right pieces. Her job is to get them into the right place.

Julian believes that’s beginning to happen as she watched Middleton perform well at the Verona Invite last Saturday. The Cardinals finished fifth out of 10 Division 1 teams and ninth overall in the 30-team field.

“Early races in the season are all about putting pieces of a puzzle together that we believe will help us achieve our future goals,” Julian said. “With such a young squad, it is an especially fun process this year. We know how much potential this team has, and each performance gives us a glimmer of what our future holds.”

Madison West won the Division 1 team title with 38 points, while Sun Prairie West was second with 72 points. New Lenox, Ill. (80), Verona (103) and Middleton (118) rounded out the top five.