Sports

Middleton’s hockey team split a pair of games last week.

The Cardinals defeated Madison West, 3-1, on Jan. 14. Middleton also fell to University School, 5-4, on Jan. 17.

Middleton leads the Big Eight Conference with an 8-0 record and is 11-8 overall.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

• Middleton 3, Madison West 1 — The Cardinals stayed atop the Big Eight Conference with a win over the Regents.

Wyatt Ehrhardt had two goals and an assist to lead MHS, while Eli Covey had a goal, as well. Michael Garbuz and Everett Lamp also had assists.

Covey scored just 2:20 into the game to give Middleton a 1-0 lead. Ehrhardt then had a second period goal as the Cardinals’ lead grew to 2-0.

West scored just 25 seconds into the third period and closed within 2-1. Middleton’s Ehrhardt then had an empty net goal with just 8 seconds left to account for the final score.

Middleton’s girls basketball team dropped a pair of games last week.

Madison Memorial rolled past the Cardinals, 76-53, on Jan. 14. Middleton then fell to Madison La Follette, 48-42, on Jan. 18.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week:

• Madison Memorial 76, Middleton 53 — The visiting Cardinals led, 32-27, at halftime, but the Spartans outscored them, 49-21, in the second half.

Brooke Michelotti led MHS with 18 points and four rebounds. Rowan Borne added 12 points and three rebounds, while Hailey Stroede had eight points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Emily Utter had seven points and four rebounds, while Teagan Kadow had six rebounds and both Hailey Roepsch and Izzy Enenberger had five rebounds.

Sitori Tanin and Parker Van Buren — both former Middleton High School standouts and current Loyola athletes and graduate students — have released a new Name, Image and Likeness merchandise line in which donates all proceeds to Crohn’s disease research.

The recently engaged couple was initially planning on creating a fundraiser for a different organization, but their plans changed in Oct., 2022 when Tanin’s family found out her brother, Elliot, had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. 

Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease which results in swelling of the digestive tract, and can cause abdominal pain, weight loss, fatigue, severe diarrhea and malnutrition, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

More than half a million Americans are affected by Crohn’s disease, with it becoming more common in people aged between 20 and 29-years-old, according to the National Institute of Health.

Less than a month ago, Middleton’s boys basketball team was winless.

Five games, five losses.

The Cardinals were playing without star 7-footer Will Garlock, though, who was sidelined with an ankle injury he suffered last spring.

Despite the slow start, MHS’ confidence remained unaffected. They knew once Garlock returned, they could get on a roll.

Fast forward to Jan. 9 and the Cardinals showed they are on that roll.

Garlock, playing in his third game since returning on Jan. 4, scored 19 points, but four others chipped in with double figures. The result was an 88-74 Middleton win over Sun Prairie East, the fifth-ranked team in Division 1 according to the WisSports.net coaches poll.

The only thing Middleton’s boys basketball team found attractive was the scoreboard.

But that was absolutely fine for the Cardinals.

Middleton struggled offensively, but shined on defense and downed host Janesville Craig, 48-36, on Jan. 7.

Middleton won its fourth straight game, improving to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big Eight Conference.

“Coach Jerry Raffel used to always say. ‘if you go to Beloit or Janesville on a school night and come back with a win it's a good night,’ ” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of former assistant coach Jerry Raffel. “I have always agreed.”

Junior guard Jackson Guerrero led the Cardinals with 11 points, while senior forward Drew Cooney added nine points and five rebounds. Junior guards John Grimes and Andrew Qastin both had seven points, while senior forward Riley Kann had four steals.

Senior post Will Garlock, who was limited to 18 minutes in his return from an ankle injury, had two points.

Middleton’s boys wrestling team finished in seventh place at the 22-team Sauk Prairie Invite last Saturday.

Seymour won the event with 275.0 points, while Oconomowoc was second (185.0). Mauston (162.0), Beaver Dam (161.0) and Sparta (153.5) rounded out the top five.

Middleton finished with 132.0 points.

Sam Zanton finished first at 157 points for Middleton, while Reed Falk (190) and Finn Grauwels (165) were both third.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ day.

120 — Lucian Borseth (4-10) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Pearce Mathison (Sparta) 20-10 won by fall over Borseth (Fall 1:12)
• Cons. Round 1 - Borseth received a bye
• Cons. Round 2 - Ben Reis (River Valley) 15-12 won by fall over Borseth  (Fall 2:07)

132 — Grady Hargrove (16-7) placed 6th and scored 14.0 team points.

Middleton’s boys swimming and diving team is more halfway through its season.

And the two-time defending state champion Cardinals should be thrilled with how things have gone.

Middleton — which is unbeaten in both invitationals and dual meets — improved to 4-0 in the Big Eight Conference with a 121-45 win at Sun Prairie East on Jan. 10.

Middleton won all three relays and took first in seven of the eight individual races.

“With the end of the season quickly approaching, we made sure to capitalize on every race we could participate in,” Middleton coach Wes Lagerhausen said. “Luckily Sun Prairie was kind enough to let us put extra entries into the JV heats. This helps me make decisions of who should swim what and in what meet at the end of the season.”

Middleton’s Espen Morner won the 200-yard freestyle, while Evan Myers was third. Sam Wolf, Morgan Dorsey and Ben Freiberg went 1-2-3 in the 200-yard IM, and Wolf set a new pool record (1:53.94).

Middleton’s girls gymnastics team wasn’t at their best against Madison East/La Follette on Jan. 9.

The Cardinals were good enough, though, to emerge with a 129.125-121.20 win.

“This is usually the point in the season where the girls are feeling sick and worn down,” MHS coach Alexis Cairo said. “This competition definitely was not our best, however, I am so incredibly proud of my girls for going out there and giving it their best.”

Middleton’s Aspen Goth won the all-around competition with a 34.60, while Abby Arnold was third (32.550) and Anja Schmidt-Voils was fourth (30.7750).

Goth was first on the vault (8.550), while Arnold was third (8.20), Ana Bollig was fifth (8.0) and Schmidt-Voils was sixth (7.950).

Goth also won the floor exercise (8.975), while Arnold was third (8.40), Schmidt-Voils was fourth (7.950) and Audrey Thomas was seventh (7.0)

Middleton’s girls basketball team rolled past Janesville Parker, 54-40, on Jan. 10.

The Cardinals improved to 5-9 overall and 4-5 in the Big Eight Conference. Parker fell to 1-12, 0-8.

Rowan Borne led Middleton with 17 points, seven steals and five rebounds, while Emily Utter had nine points and three steals. Hailey Stroede had eight points and five rebounds, while Macey Blazek had seven rebounds, four points and three steals.

Brooke Michelotti added six points, five rebounds and two steals, while Lucy Drye had four steals.

Middleton finished with a season-high 20 steals.

• On deck: Middleton was at Madison Memorial Tuesday, then faces Madison La Follette Saturday at 11 a.m. at Sun Prairie West High School.

Middleton’s hockey team had a rough week, dropping all three of its games.

The good news for the Cardinals is they were all non-conference contests, meaning Middleton still leads the Big Eight Conference.

Madison Edgewood defeated the Cardinals, 10-3, on Jan. 7. Green Bay Notre Dame then defeated Middleton, 4-1, on Jan. 10 at Marathon County Ice Arena, and Wausau West edged the Cardinals, 5-4, at Marathon County Ice Arena on Jan. 11.

Middleton fell to 10-7 overall, but is a perfect 7-0 in the league — one game ahead of Verona (8-1) in the loss column.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals week.

• Madison Edgewood 10, Middleton 3 — Edgewood raced to leads of 4-0 and 10-1 and was in control throughout.

Wyatt Ehrhardt, Everett Lamp and Thomas Sutcliffe all had goals for MHS.

• Notre Dame 4, Middleton 1 — The Tritons scored four second period goals and rolled past the Cardinals last Friday.