Sports

WAUNAKEE — Carter Parks held a bag of ice on a nasty shiner he’d just acquired.

Parker Klein limped off the floor with a slight ankle injury after emerging from a scrum.

Jackson Guerrero, Luke Sheehan and Joey Passaglia — all standout football players — wound up on the hardwood floor almost as often as they were tackled last fall.

What began as a boys basketball game at Waunakee last Saturday turned into a knockdown, drag out, football-like affair. And Middleton proved it can excel under any conditions.

The Cardinals rolled past host Waunakee, 70-50, in a WIAA Division 1 regional final that was arguably their most physical contest of the year. Middleton, which prides itself on speed, athleticism and skill, showed it can hold its own in the trenches, as well.

It was 9 p.m. Friday.

And no one — and we mean no one — deserved a good night of sleep as much as Luke Sheehan.

Sheehan, a senior forward, spent 21 hours traveling from Madrid, Spain back to Middleton for the Cardinals’ WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal against Janesville Craig. Sheehan arrived back at MHS 10 minutes before tipoff, much to the delight of his teammates.

“I was sweating it,” Sheehan said.

Making matters worse was the Cardinals had to sweat out a 65-62 win over the Cougars. When it was over, all Sheehan wanted to do was plop down on his bed.

“The first half I was juiced up,” Sheehan said. “Second half, it was like I got hit by a tank. I was pretty tired. My body felt good, but my head was just like … all that travel got to me.”

With good reason.

Madrid is seven hours ahead of Middleton, so when Sheehan got to MHS at 6:50 p.m. CST, it was really 1:50 a.m. in Spain.

Their Houdini-act was now complete.

Middleton’s boys basketball team had escaped upstart Janesville Craig, 65-62, in a too-close-for-comfort WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal Friday night. And as the Cardinals took a minute to exhale, MHS coach Kevin Bavery also told them to savor the moment.

“Hey, tournament wins are hard,” Bavery said. “And we just said, ‘Welcome to tournament basketball.’ Hey, we're 21-4 (overall), but we’re also 1-0 and that's all that matters.”

That’s all that mattered on this night, as fifth-seeded Middleton survived against the gritty, gutty 12^th-seeded Cougars. Middleton advanced to Saturday’s regional final at fourth-seeded Waunakee (19-6) at 7 p.m., while Craig ended its year 11-14.

The Cardinals defeated the Cougars by an average of 20.0 points in their first two meetings, but had to sweat this one out until Craig’s Keyon’Dre Thornton sent a 3-pointer wide left with 2 seconds left.

For more than a week, Middleton boys basketball coach Kevin Bavery heard the chatter — over and over and over.

“All I've heard about is the seed, the seed, the seed,” Bavery said.

There’s good reason for that, as Middleton — which went 20-4 and captured a share of the Big Eight Conference title — was arguably the most under-seeded team in the state this postseason.

Middleton received the No. 5 seed in its WIAA Division 1 sectional and opens the playoffs by hosting 12^th-seeded Janesville Craig in a regional semifinal Friday at 7 p.m. If the Cardinals win there, they’ll meet the winner of fourth-seeded Waunakee and 13^th-seeded Mukwonago in a regional final Saturday at 7 p.m.

Despite the controversial seed — and all the noise that surrounded it — the Cardinals did all they could to put that topic in the rearview mirror and focus on the Cougars.

MADISON – Middleton junior standout Reed Falk knew a fast start was imperative if he hoped to secure an individual state championship at the 83rd annual WIAA Division 1 state tournament at the Kohl Center last Saturday.

After first-round losses the past two seasons relegated Falk to the consolation bracket, the third time proved to be a charm when Falk capped a perfect season with his first state championship.

Falk scored a first-period takedown to grab a lead he never lost on his way to a 10-3 victory over Jacob Hutchins of River Falls in their 190-pound championship match. Falk finished his magical season 51-0.

“It’s great. It’s the best feeling in the world. There’s nothing like it,” Falk said afterwards. “I’m beyond grateful for my teammates and coaches. I couldn’t have done it without them. I’m just happy to be here and get it done.”

Five short weeks ago, Middleton’s boys basketball team suffered its ugliest defeat of the season — and at the time, only its second setback of the year — with a 74-49 loss to Madison Memorial.

Things went better in the first half on Feb. 26, but the Spartans still led for the majority of the first 18 minutes and held a 32-28 edge at the break.

Then things changed.

“We just turned up our pressure,” Middleton senior guard Andrew Qastin said. “We knew we had to leave it all out there.”

“I thought we had more heart,” fellow senior guard John Grimes added. “We wanted it more. We were a little slow in the first half, but we came out with energy in the second half and we won it.”

Indeed, the Cardinals did win.

Middleton put together a dominant second half and posted a convincing 71-57 victory over the Spartans to claim a share of the Big Eight Conference title.

There was a time Middleton’s girls gymnastics program was one of the state’s elite outfits.

From 1995-2019, the Cardinals reached the WIAA Division 1 state tournament 22 times. Middleton posted four second place finishes in that stretch and had 14 top-five finishes.

The Cardinals appear awfully close to returning to past glory.

Middleton finished in third place at the WIAA Division 1 Sun Prairie West Sectional on Feb. 26, narrowly missing out on a trip to team state.

But Cardinals standouts Aspen Goth and Abby Arnold both qualified for individual state. Goth qualified as an all-arounder and also earned a state berth on the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise, while Arnold qualified on the floor.

Middleton’s girls basketball team played Verona tougher than it has in several years during its WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal last Friday. The fifth-seeded Wildcats pulled away late, though, and toppled the 12^th-seeded Cardinals, 66-56.

Middleton finished the year 14-11 overall. Verona, which lost the following night to Mukwonago in a regional final, finished the year 20-6.

Freshman Anna Reinhard led Middleton with 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Senior Rowan Borne added 12 points and four rebounds, while senior Brooke Michelotti had 11 points, three assists and three rebounds.

Senior Hailey Roepsch had nine points and five rebounds, while senior Hailey Stroede had seven points and 12 rebounds.

The Cardinals trailed, 31-24, at halftime and 38-33 early in the second half. But Middleton battled back, getting a 3-pointer from Stroede and a driving lay-up from Borne to tie the game, 38-38.

Glass half empty or glass half full?

The results for Middleton’s boys basketball team in last Saturday night’s non-conference clash with De Pere offered a little bit of both perspectives.

On one hand, the Cardinals erased a double-digit deficit and were in position to win in the final minutes.

On the other hand, things slipped away at the end.

Middleton suffered an 80-71 loss to the Redbirds, leaving the Cardinals with mixed emotions in the wake of their second defeat in three games after beginning the year 18-2.

“Today and Tuesday (a loss to Verona) we got out to a bad start, and we came all the way back and tied it up,” senior guard Jackson Guerrero said. “That just shows how much fight and grit we have, and how much we want to win. We won’t give up.”

Middleton, which fell to 19-4, certainly didn’t quit.

But the game ended the same way it started.

Middleton’s hockey team was young and inexperienced this season, with just three seniors on the roster.

The Cardinals made strides, though, before their season ended with a 5-1 loss to Sun Prairie in a WIAA Division 1 regional final on Feb. 19.

Middleton actually took a 1-0 lead just 3 minutes, 41 seconds into the game. Patrick Passini scored for MHS on assists from Thomas Kydd and Everett Lamp.

Sun Prairie scored the next five goals, though, including three in the third period to pull away. Middleton goalie Caiden Fletcher had 29 saves.

Sun Prairie finished with a 33-25 advantage in shots on goal.

Middleton ended the season 8-16-2.

Middleton also defeated Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells/Mauston, 6-4, in a regional semifinal on Feb. 17.

Everett Lamp and Patrick Passini both scored goals in the final 3 ½ minutes as the Cardinals rallied past the Miners.