Sports

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — Twelve months ago, a back injury had Aspen Goth on the sidelines more than on a gymnastics mat.

Today, Goth has proven to be one of the top gymnasts in Wisconsin.

Goth, a sophomore at Middleton High School, went to the WIAA Division 1 state individual meet last Saturday at Wisconsin Rapids High School and shined.

Goth finished 14^th in the all-around competition and also posted a ninth place finish on the uneven bars, a 10^th place finish on the vault and an 11^th place finish on the floor.

In all, it was a terrific debut at the state meet for Goth.

“Being that Aspen is only a sophomore, I think this was an exciting opportunity for her to experience the state competition,” Middleton coach Alexis Cairo said. “She was nervous — and rightfully so — but ultimately she put up a good fight.”

The Middleton High School Alpine Ski Team wrapped up its season with strong performances at both the conference and state championships.

The girls secured a first-place finish at the conference meet on Feb. 10, while the boys team claimed second place.

Seven athletes from each team qualified for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Alpine Racing Association (WIARA) State Championships, held at Mt. La Crosse on Feb. 16-17.

Representing Middleton at state for the boys were, seniors Owen Winkelmann and Will Seaborg, juniors Eli Knutowski, Wesley Ward, Drew Lindsey and Griffin Schumacher, and freshman Colin Burke.

The girls were represented by senior Rita Vavilov, juniors Sydney Weiss and Maggie Kirker, sophomores Ava Lindsey, Stella Schroeder and Opal Kunkel, and freshman Emily Fredricks.

MADISON — As the 1977 hit song by Meatloaf goes, ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’.

Such was the fate of the trio of Middleton High School wrestlers who competed at the 82^nd annual WIAA individual state wrestling championships at the UW-Kohl Center last weekend.

Junior Sam Zanton earned a repeat berth on the podium with a fourth-place finish at 157 pounds, while sophomore Reed Falk also earned a second straight place on the podium, finishing sixth at 190 pounds.

Meanwhile, junior Finn Grauwels fell one match short of qualifying for the fifth-place match at 165 pounds.

“Next year we can get all three of us on the podium,” Zanton said. “I think we can definitely do it.”

While Middleton is still after its first individual state wrestling champion since coach Kevin Meicher won the Division 1 title at 126 pounds as a freshman in 2016, it was an extremely successful season for the Cardinals overall.

MADISON — All good things must come to an end.

For Middleton’s girls basketball team, the end came last Friday night at the hands of Madison Memorial.

The Cardinals entered the game on a roll, having won six of their previous seven games. But the Spartans’ front court and full-court pressure defense was too much for the Cardinals to overcome.

Fifth-seeded Memorial finished the first half on a 16-5 run and 12th-seeded Middleton never recovered, suffering a 78-52 loss in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal. The Spartans went 3-0 against Middleton this year — winning the season opener, the season finale and another game in between.

“We had a gameplan and we didn’t execute that gameplan after the first 12 minutes,” Middleton coach Rashard Griffith said. “We weren’t recovering (on defense) and helping one another on the penetration and the drives — the stuff that we talked about and we worked on.

VERONA — All in all, the first period was a success for Middleton.

The second and third periods were the complete opposite.

The fourth-seeded Cardinals trailed top-seeded Madison Edgewood, 2-1, after the first 17 minutes in their WIAA Division 1 boys hockey sectional semifinals at Verona Ice Arena on Feb. 25. Middleton couldn’t carry that momentum over, though, ultimately suffering a 7-1 loss to the Wildcats.

“We wanted to control what we can control, which is our attitude and effort,” Middleton coach Jochen Hylbert said of the upset bid. “We went out there and played a pretty tough first period. It was a pretty tight game — a few bounces could have gone either way that period.”

The first bounce went Edgewood’s (20-6) way, a goal by Owen Porter that came just 2 minutes, 45 seconds into the contest.

Coaches everywhere talk about peaking.

Performing at your best when it matters most.

Shining brightest when the postseason arrives.

For most, that rarely happens.

Middleton’s girls gymnastics team, on the other hand, had its finest meet in several years at the WIAA Division 1 Sun Prairie Sectional on Feb. 27.

The Cardinals finished third at sectionals with a team score of 137.525 — breaking their season-best score by a remarkable 3.525 points. Verona/Madison Edgewood won the sectional with a 144.275 score, while Mount Horeb was second (138.775).

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, only the top two teams advanced to the state team meet, which will be held Friday at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School.

Middleton’s boys basketball team finished the regular season in style.

Now, the Cardinals hope to carry that momentum into the postseason.

Middleton routed visiting Janesville Parker, 91-37, in its regular season finale on Feb. 27. The Cardinals finished the regular season 14-10 overall and took fifth place in the Big Eight Conference at 11-7.

Now, Middleton hopes to make some noise in the playoffs.

The Cardinals are the No. 8 seed in their sectional and will host ninth-seeded Beloit Memorial in a regional semifinal Friday at 7 p.m.

If the Cardinals win their playoff opener — and seeds hold — they’d head to top-seeded Kettle Moraine (23-0) for a regional final Saturday at 7 p.m.

The sectional semifinals would be March 13 and the sectional finals are March 15.

Beloit Memorial (15-9) finished in fourth place in the Southern Lakes Conference.

Middleton landed three players on the all-Big Eight Conference boys basketball team.

Senior center Will Garlock was named first-team all-conference, while junior guard Jackson Guerrero was named second-team all-league. Guerrero also shared co-Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year honors with Verona’s Cam Williams.

Middleton senior wing Riley Kann was also named honorable mention all-conference.

The 7-foot Garlock, a University of Wisconsin recruit, missed the first seven games of the season while recovering from offseason ankle surgery. Middleton went 2-5 without Garlock and is 12-5 since his return.

Garlock is averaging 13.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and leads the Cardinals with 3.1 assists per game. Garlock, who set the school record in field goal percentage each of the last two years, is shooting 77.3% this season, which would be another new school record.

WAUKESHA — Van Halen’s 1986 classic ‘Dreams’ blasted through the natatorium at Waukesha South High School last Saturday afternoon.

“Get higher and higher, straight up we'll climb,” Sammy Hagar screamed. “We'll get higher and higher, leave it all behind.”

It’s almost as if Middleton’s boys swimming team listened — and obeyed — Hagar’s words.

Race after race, swim after swim, Middleton put on a show. And the Cardinals left South with their third straight WIAA Division 1 state title.

Middleton finished with 273 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Verona (175). Brookfield’s co-op team (151.5), Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial (144) and the West Bend co-op (140) rounded out the top-five.

Middleton posted the largest margin of victory since 2016, when Madison Memorial won the meet by 112 points over runner-up Madison West. The Cardinals also won the fourth state title in school history, all coming since 2020.

All things considered, Kevin Bavery was a relatively happy man Sunday morning.

Bavery, the Cardinals boys basketball coach, has watched his team plummet in the last 10 days with three straight losses.

So when the WIAA announced postseason seeds, Bavery thought his team might be on the road from start to finish.

Instead, Middleton received the No. 8 seed and will host ninth-seeded Beloit Memorial in a regional semifinal on March 7.

“All I wanted was a home game,” Bavery said. “I was hoping for the (No.) 8, but I wasn’t sure the way we’ve played lately. So I’m pretty happy with it.”

Middleton is 13-10 and is tied for fifth place in the Big Eight Conference at 10-7. If the Cardinals win their playoff opener — and seeds hold — they’d head to top-seeded Kettle Moraine (23-0) for a regional final on March 8.

The sectional semifinals would be March 13 and the sectional finals are March 15.