Sports

The hype is much more than just hot air.

It’s real. Very real.

And Middleton’s boys swimming team proved just that Saturday by winning the star-studded Brookfield Invitational.

The Cardinals finished with 620 points at the nine-team invite. Madison Memorial (508), Arrowhead (431), Brookfield’s co-op (320) and Sun Prairie West (210) rounded out the top five.

“The meet went really well,” Middleton first-year coach Wes Lagerhausen said. “I am happy with how we competed as a team.”

There was a lot to be proud of.

Middleton’s 200-yard medley relay team of senior Theo Wolf, freshman Sam Wolf, junior Cowan Vitense and freshman Max Carter finished first, nearly 2 seconds ahead of Madison Memorial’s second place quartet.

The schedule is about to intensify.

But Middleton’s girls basketball team has put itself in terrific position inside the Big Eight Conference.

The Cardinals rolled to a pair of wins last week — a 69-22 victory at Janesville Parker on Dec. 8 and a 90-51 rout of visiting Beloit Memorial last Saturday.

The Cardinals improved to 5-2 overall and are 5-1 in the conference. Middleton sits in a tie for second place in the league with Madison La Follette and Sun Prairie West, ½-game behind conference-leading Verona (5-0, 5-1).

In Middleton’s win over Beloit Memorial, senior guard Audrey Deptula had a sensational game with a career-high 34 points that included a remarkable 31-point first half. In all, Deptula drained five 3-pointers and was a one-person wrecking crew much of the night.

Middleton’s senior linebacker Gus Wenning and junior offensive lineman Kristian Peterson were both named honorable-mention all-state by the Associated Press.

Wenning was named the Big Eight’s Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Cardinals with 99 tackles. He also finished first in sacks (7.0) and tackles for loss (19.0).

In addition, he had three forced fumbles, two interceptions and was the physical and emotional leader of one of the league’s top defenses.

“Amazing leader! His teammates love him and would follow him anywhere,” Middleton coach Jason Perrtzborn said of Wenning. “He did everything the right way and didn't cut any corners.

“We will miss his presence everywhere for sure. My challenge is for anyone here at MHS to take those reins and elevate the program some more.”

Maybe they stole it from Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers from two year ago. Maybe not.

Either way, the Middleton girls basketball team's motto this season is 'All gas, no brakes.'

“I told them to embrace that,” Middleton coach Rashard Griffith said. “As long as we embrace it and do what we're supposed to do and take care of us, we'll be OK.”

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they didn't do that in the second half last Friday night against Madison La Follette.

Junior Alayna West poured in 28 of her game-high 43 points in the second-half points and helped La Follette erase a 17-point deficit and notch a 65-58 Big Eight Conference victory.

What changed that allowed the Lancers to orchestrate such a big comeback? According to Griffith, not much as far as what the Lancers did.

Middleton’s boys swimming and diving team kicked off its season in style by downing Madison Memorial, 104-66, on Dec. 2.

It was the Cardinals’ first meet of the new season and the first under coach Weston Lagerhausen.

“The meet went well,” Lagerhausen said. “I was happy to have all of my swimmers compete in an individual race and a relay. It will be fun to see how everyone stacks up on the team for future meets and increase the competition we have at practice on a daily basis.”

Middleton’s 200-yard medley relay team of senior Theo Wolf, freshman Sam Wolf, junior Cowan Vitense and senior Jack Madoch finished first. The Cardinals’ quartet of freshman Max Carter, junior Luke Lamers, junior Tony Peters and junior Jackson Esteves was third.

Middleton’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Madoch, Vitense, senior Jack Madigan and senior Nick Chirafisi was first, while the foursome of junior Henry Bohachek, junior Noah Dorn, Peters and Lamers was third.

Middleton’s wrestlers finished in 13^th place at the 17-team Watertown Invite on Dec. 3.

Bryce Falk had the Cardinals’ top finish, placing fourth at 182 pounds, while Sam Zanton placed fifth at 138 pounds.

Jessica Bristol was also second in the girls’ division at 132 pounds.

Here’s the Cardinals’ results:

120 — Joe Cristoforo (5-11) placed 12th and scored 8.0 team points.

The lead — once as many as 21 points — was evaporating was quickly.

Fifteen. Ten. Five. And poof, suddenly Middleton’s boys basketball team trailed host Madison Memorial, 60-59, with 4 ½ minutes left in the season-opener for both teams on Dec. 1.

“It was crazy how they came back,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said. “But you know what, I was never worried.”

Maybe that’s because Bavery has seen seniors Kaden Fosdick and Gavyn Hurley shine in these moments time and time again.

That duo led a 12-4 run down the stretch and helped Middleton pull out a pulsating, 71-64 win over arch-rival Memorial.

Fosdick had six points in the final 4:15 and a pair of enormous defensive plays. Hurley scored five points in the final 3:11 — including a tough hoop that put Middleton ahead to stay.

Middleton, which began the year ranked No. 4 by the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook, got a win in a place that’s been its house of horrors throughout the years.

To some, it still seems like yesterday.

Amazingly, though, it was 25 years ago that Middleton’s boys basketball team made its unforgettable run to the WIAA Division 1 state championship game. Those Cardinals dropped a heartbreaker to Milwaukee Vincent in the state finals, but left the community with enough feel-good moments to last a lifetime.

Middleton’s program has been a model of consistency since that time. But the Cardinals haven’t earned a return trip to the UW Kohl Center.

Perhaps this is the season.

Middleton — which begins its season with a trip to Madison Memorial Thursday — returns arguably it’s most talented team since that 1998 squad left the state tournament with a silver ball.

The Cardinals have the size of most college programs. They bring back a deep and experienced group. And they welcome a handful of newcomers that appear ready to make an immediate splash.

Finding a theme for the 2022-23 Middleton Cardinals wrestling team was a no-brainer.

Following the release of the movie ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, the Cardinals jump-started their pursuit of excellence with the theme ‘Ready for a dogfight.’

“We’re ready to compete, ready to fight,” second-year head coach Joe Miller said with gusto.

“We feel in year two, we’re going to make a big leap. In year one, we were coming out of COVID with a lot of restrictions. It was kind of a work in progress.”

But the Cardinals earned four individual titles in placing third at the Big Eight Conference tournament and advanced Bryce Falk and Reese Miller, Joe’s son, to sectional competition.

Senior co-captain Tiem Nguyen said the best is yet to come.

“Last year, I thought we were ready to win conference,” he said. “We had the most individual titles. I think this year our whole team has the goal to be first at conference.”

The WIAA Division 1 boys state swimming and diving meet had been over for an hour, or so, last February.

As Middleton standout Nick Chirafisi left Waukesha South High School — where the Cardinals had just finished fourth overall — the MHS star said what many others were thinking.

“We won the state championship my freshman year and I'd love to see us win it again my senior year,” Chirafisi said. “It can happen. Plan on us bringing the heat.”

It’s time for the Cardinals to bring it.

Middleton begins its new season by hosting Madison Memorial Friday at 5:30 p.m.

And Chirafisi — now a senior — and his MHS teammates believe a state title is well within reach.

Middleton returns several key cogs from last year’s team — led by standout seniors Jack Madoch and Chirafisi — as the Cardinals take aim at their second state title in four years.