Sports

It was a quiet week for Middleton’s boys volleyball team.

In the Cardinals’ only match of the week, though, they made plenty of noise, rolling past Madison Edgewood, 25-14, 25-17, 25-22.

Caden Van Buren led Middleton with 12 kills, six digs and two blocks, while Teddy Young had 10 kills and four digs. Ambrose Engling added six kills, while Brody Stuttgen had 24 assists and two aces.

Sam Jolin had 10 assists and two blocks, while Hudson Sweitzer had three blocks. Dom Rees added three aces and Bryce Stuttgen had two aces.

“Edgewood put up a good fight against us,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said. “We came out swinging in the first set. We passed great and had a really balanced offensive spread.

Middleton’s girls tennis team won the Big Eight Conference tournament held at Nielsen Tennis Stadium on Sept. 27-28.

The Cardinals got first place finishes from Sophie Shi at No. 3 singles, Rishika Kommuri at No. 4 singles, their No. 1 doubles team of Ashley Andler and Keena Cheng and their No. 3 doubles team of Hannah Lister and Mia Balistreri.

Middleton finished with 17 points and edged Verona (13) for first place. Janesville Craig (12), Sun Prairie East (12) and Madison West (11) rounded out the top five.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ performances.

FIRST PLACE

No. 3 singles — Shi rolled to 6-0, 6-0 wins over girls from Madison East and Madison West to reach the finals. Then in the championship match, Shi defeated Verona’s Nicole Repka, 6-0, 6-2.

Evan Kratochwill’s last day included spending time with his parents at his cross country meet.

Kratochwill, who passed away tragically from a double vehicle crash in the Town of Middleton on Oct. 2, 2021, will be honored when Middleton High School hosts the second annual Evan Kratochwill Memorial Invitational at Glacier Creek Middle School in Cross Plains on Saturday.

It will truly be a community event for all ages.

“There will be a community two-mile cross country run/walk beginning at 7:45 a.m.,” Middleton boys cross country coach Brian Finnel said. “That will be followed by the middle school races and the high school races.”

Finnel said an awards ceremony will follow.

Kratochwill was a former student at Glacier Creek Middle School and Middleton High School, as well as a team member of the Middleton cross country team.

Like sand through an hourglass, time was running out on the Middleton football team’s chances last Friday against Janesville Craig.

Then the Cardinals forced a turnover deep in Craig territory. And another one. And just for good measure, one more.

Suddenly, what was a six-point fourth-quarter deficit turned into a blowout — a 33-13, Big Eight Conference victory for the Cardinals that kept alive their league championship hopes.

Middleton actually forced four straight interceptions, although the first one didn’t lead to any points. And three of the four were by defensive linemen.

You don’t see that very often.

“No, you don’t,” said safety Jacob Francois, who had one of the four picks.

“We’re very proud of our guys for persevering,” co-interim head coach Tim Simon added of the team’s offensive struggles through three quarters. “Because things weren’t going the way that we had hoped.”

They’ve dominated the league all season long.

And the Big Eight Conference meet was more of the same.

Middleton’s girls golf team — which went undefeated in the dual meet season — also won the conference meet held at Evansville Country Club last Thursday.

Middleton shot a 319-team score to easily outdistance runner-up Verona (384).

“I had the girls set a goal going into the conference tournament and they said their goal was to shoot under 320,” Middleton coach Becky Halverson said. “They all came together and achieved that goal. Evansville is always a tough track for us, so it was great to see the girls play well and achieve their team goal.”

Cardinals senior Vivian Cressman captured medalist honors with a 2-under-par 70. Cressman made four birdies, two bogeys and 12 pars.

Meat Loaf once performed a power ballad called “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad.”

Middleton’s boys soccer coach Kevin Pauls felt that way after last week.

But Pauls, who believes he has a team capable of making a run at the state tournament, has higher goals than “ain’t bad.”

Middleton won two of three games, which was certainly serviceable. But Pauls and the Cardinals certainly wanted.

“Not a bad week, but not exactly what we wanted,” Pauls said.

Middleton dropped a 1-0 decision to Madison East on Sept. 19, then rebounded with an 8-0 victory over Sun Prairie East on Sept. 21 and a 5-0 blanking of Janesville Craig on Sept. 23.

The Cardinals are now 8-4-0 overall and lead the Big Eight Conference with a 6-1 mark. Sun Prairie East and Verona, who are both 5-1 in the conference, are nipping at the Cardinals’ heels, though.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s week.

Middleton’s girls tennis team reached the championship match of last Saturday’s Verona Invite, where it fell to Brookfield East, 5-2.

The Cardinals notched wins over Madison West, Kenosha Indian Trail and Green Bay Notre Dame to reach the finals.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s performance at the tournament:

• Middleton 5, Madison West 2 — The Cardinals’ top three singles players — Netra Somasundaram, Lydia Sabat and Sophie Shi — all posted straight set wins. Middleton also got wins from its No. 1 doubles team of Ashley Andler and Keena Cheng, and its No. 3 team of Hannah Lister and Mia Balistreri.

• Middleton 7, Kenosha Indian Trail 0 — The Cardinals rolled to straight set wins at all seven flights.

Somasundaram, Sabat, Shi and Haley Klatt each notched singles wins. Middleton’s doubles teams of Andler/Cheng, Sarah Li/Sophia Pientka and Lister/Balistreri all posted comfortable wins, as well.

Middleton’s girls volleyball team posted a pair of impressive wins last week.

The Cardinals swept Madison East 25-12, 25-12, 25-20, on Sept. 19. Middleton then posted a grueling 25-23, 26-24, 25-23 win over Sun Prairie East on Sept. 21.

In Middleton’s win over Madison East, Laina Gustafson, Keaten Davis and Sadie Newcomb all had six kills, while Haley Stoffregan had 12 assists and Andrea Wipperfurth added 11 assists.

Abby Tubbs had eight digs and Alina Wisinski added six digs, while Stoffregan had four aces and Emma Tubbs had three aces.

“Madison East was a good match for us to get many players the opportunity to see the court and get some live action against a different opponent,” Middleton coach Ben White said. “We were able to see some of our younger players like Brooke Michelotti, Elyssa Ross and Alina Wisinski make contributions in a varsity win.”

Middleton followed that with a grueling, three-set win over Sun Prairie East.

Middleton’s girls volleyball team posted a pair of impressive wins last week.

The Cardinals swept Madison East 25-12, 25-12, 25-20, on Sept. 19. Middleton then posted a grueling 25-23, 26-24, 25-23 win over Sun Prairie East on Sept. 21.

In Middleton’s win over Madison East, Laina Gustafson, Keaten Davis and Sadie Newcomb all had six kills, while Haley Stoffregan had 12 assists and Andrea Wipperfurth added 11 assists.

Abby Tubbs had eight digs and Alina Wisinski added six digs, while Stoffregan had four aces and Emma Tubbs had three aces.

“Madison East was a good match for us to get many players the opportunity to see the court and get some live action against a different opponent,” Middleton coach Ben White said. “We were able to see some of our younger players like Brooke Michelotti, Elyssa Ross and Alina Wisinski make contributions in a varsity win.”

Middleton followed that with a grueling, three-set win over Sun Prairie East.

Middleton’s girls swimming and diving team came one step closer to clinching the Big Eight Conference dual meet title last Friday.

The Cardinals rolled past Madison East, 135-32, and improved to 6-0 in the conference.

“We swam very well vs. Madison East, and got a chance to see our girls swim some events they don't typically do,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman said.

Middleton’s first place finishes included:

• The 200-yard medley relay, where Audrey Alexander, Brynn Sundell, Sulia Miller and Piper Garcia-Hall were first.

• The 200-yard freestyle relay, where Hannah Machleidt, Lily Mair, Aoife Ryan-Kaiser and Anna Dart were first.

• And the 400-yard freestyle relay won by the quartet of Kaylee Burt, Garcia Hall, Ellie Eisele and Clara Kiehl.

• Sundell won the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.

• Addy Palmer won the 200-yard IM.

• Irene Lee captured the 50-yard freestyle.