February 2023

SUN PRAIRIE — All Isaiah Oliver wanted to do was foul.

Instead, Middleton’s standout freshman fouled up Sun Prairie West’s upset hopes.

The Cardinals trailed the Wolves, 50-49, with 5.0 seconds left last Friday. West had the ball 80-feet from the basket, and inbounded to sophomore guard Tyler Haney in the deep left corner.

Middleton still had a foul to give before sending West to the free throw line, but the Cardinals didn’t need to use it.

Middleton’s Will Garlock and Kaden Fosdick immediately applied a trap. Haney was losing the ball out of bounds and tossed it back in where Oliver was waiting.

Oliver corralled the loose ball with 2.4 seconds left, attacked the rim and converted a left-handed lay-up with just 1.0 seconds left.

In the blink of an eye, a near certain defeat became a stunning 51-50 Middleton win.

MIDDLETON–The Middleton City Council will seek approval from 250 to 300 homeowners to be granted permission to treat the spongy moth outbreak that began last summer. The permission for access is the next step after the council voted to approve a contractor for aerial spraying.

Numerous City of Middleton residents called on the council last summer to take action to mitigate the spongy moth outbreak which could devastate the city’s deciduous tree population, especially oak trees. 

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) European spongy moths (formerly known as gypsy moths) were accidentally introduced into Massachusetts in 1869 by an amateur entomologist. Since then, spongy moths have defoliated millions of acres of trees in forests and urban areas in at least 20 states. Spongy moth caterpillars feed on more than 300 species of deciduous and evergreen trees.

DEFOREST — When Bryce Falk sets his mind on accomplishing a goal, nothing will stand in his way.

Last fall, it was navigating his way into the end zone as an all-Big Eight Conference running back. During the winter, it’s piling up points on a wrestling mat with the goal of winning a state championship.

A junior co-captain, Falk won the 170-pound championship at the WIAA Division 1 DeForest Regional last Saturday, overcoming his battle with asthma along the way.

That followed up winning the Big Eight Conference title a week earlier at Sun Prairie East High School.

“I have pretty bad asthma in the winter,” Falk said. “For me to keep it easy and take breaks throughout the match really helps a lot. That’s using the injury time out, to use my inhaler. I usually don’t have any major injuries.”

BELOIT — Middleton sophomore center Will Garlock looked at the scoreboard last Saturday afternoon.

The clock showed just under 12 minutes. The mighty Cardinals — ranked No. 2 in the latest WIAA Division 1 state poll — trailed host Beloit Memorial, 56-45.

And admittedly, Garlock was worried.

“Yeah, it wasn’t looking real good,” Garlock said. “But we kept fighting.”

Boy, did they ever.

Middleton played some of its best basketball of the season, embarked on an 19-3 run and rallied for a thrilling 69-63 win at historic Barkin Arena. The Cardinals improved to 18-1 overall, 15-1 in the Big Eight Conference and are just one win away from clinching at least a share of the league title.

The Purple Knights, one of the most improved teams in the state since November, fell to 4-15, 2-14.

“They’re clearly an upper tier team in the league in terms of talent,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of Beloit. “So we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”