December 2021

Sports returned to Middleton High School in 2021.

And so did the wins, the thrills and the championships.

After COVID shut down the sports world in 2020, things inched back to a state of normalcy at Middleton in 2021. And that meant one highlight after another.

Over the next two weeks, I’ll examine the top-10 sports stories of the year. Stories 6-10 will run this week, and stories 1-5 will run next week.

6. Beckman, boys golfers shine at state

When Jacob Beckman walked Middleton’s boys golf program, he wasn’t bashful.

The baby faced, yet ultra-gifted Beckman outlined his goals. And he wasn’t afraid to aim big.

“The goal that I set for myself the very first day of practice my freshman year was to win a state championship,” Beckman said.

They've toppled the teams at the bottom of the conference.

It's the ones at the top that have given Middleton’s girls basketball team trouble.

The Cardinals dug themselves an 11-0 hole last Friday and couldn't escape in what became a 59-42 loss to Janesville Craig.

The Cougars improved to 5-1 in the Big Eight Conference and sit atop the league with Sun Prairie. Middleton is tied for third place in the conference at 4-2 and is 4-3 overall.

“We had a couple stretches during the game that hurt us,” Middleton coach Jeff Kind said. “But we did show some good signs.”

The Cougars showed more, though, which is why they’re in first place.

“I think what I’m most pleased with tonight was the poise that our girls showed,” Craig coach Kerry Storbakken said. “They knew that Middleton was a good team and was going to make their runs, but our girls never panicked.”

Unacceptable

That’s what Middleton boys swimming coach R.J. Leiferman called the Cardinals’ performance against Madison West last Friday.

The Cardinals won five of the 11 events, but West’s depth helped it roll to a 106-64 win. It was Middleton’s first Big Eight Conference loss of the year.

Middleton’s Nick Chirafisi won the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. Jack Madoch won the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, while Theo Wolf won the 100 backstroke.

But the Cardinals couldn't get much else accomplished.

“Our performance vs. Madison West was completely unacceptable,” Leiferman said. “We have to be better in the future.”

Middleton was much better the following day when it finished second at the 11-team Beloit Invite.

Verona-Mount Horeb was first with 657 points, while the Cardinals were second at 633. Badger (449), Beloit Memorial (287) and Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial (287) rounded out the top five.

MIDDLETON–Arlie Maximillan Mucks IV, 22, of 2223 Middleton Beach Road in Middleton, passed away at 6:22 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2021, at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, after suffering injuries he sustained as a passenger in a motor vehicle accident in Milwaukee. Arlie was fiercely loyal to his friends and family, incredibly smart, remarkably talented and hysterically funny. He made everybody's life better by being a part of it. Arlie generously donated his organs and saved the lives of at least five other people. He will live on in others. Arlie was born at Meriter Hospital in Madison on May 27, 1999, to Jeffrey (Jeff) Simpson Mucks and Sonja Johnson. He grew up in Middleton with his parents and older sister, Alexandra (Allie), and was a 2017 graduate of Middleton High School. Arlie was currently a senior mechanical engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, set to graduate in May 2022, and was employed by The Kenwood Company in Milwaukee.