Sports

Middleton’s boys volleyball team hasn't lost a Big Eight Conference match since Sept. 29, 2011.

The Cardinals entered last week with a remarkable league winning streak of 84 matches.

And Middleton wasn’t challenged while extending that streak to 85 matches and nearly 13 years.

The Cardinals rolled past Madison La Follette, 25-13, 25-14, 25-12 on Sept. 18. Middleton, ranked No. 2 in the latest Wisconsin Boys Volleyball Coaches poll, improved to 14-2 on the year.

"We played some very clean volleyball against La Follette,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said. “We didn't give La Follette very many chances and we kept the ball on their side of the court for most of the game.”

Caden Van Buren led the Cardinals with 11 kills and added two aces and a block. Bryce Stuttgen had 19 assists, four aces and three digs, while Jonah Johnson had eight kills.

Oliver Wenning, a junior at Middleton High School, was chosen to play for the USA Lacrosse’s U-16 Select team.

Following a series of regional tryouts around the country, a total of more than 150 players were invited to a three-day national combine in late July. The USA Select teams were determined after the combine.

There are 24 players on the U-16 team from 14 states and the District of Columbia.

The team participated in a sixes development camp the weekend of Sept. 20-22, then will have international competition during the Brogden Cup the weekend of Oct. 25-27.

The events will be held at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md.

Middleton standout wide receiver Troy Teff used the word “eager.”

Cardinals star linebacker Tyler Vogt picked the term “intense.”

And MHS co-coach Joe Poehls knows it’s going to be “exciting.”

When Middleton travels to Verona Friday at 7 p.m., it’s safe this matchup of the Big Eight Conference big boys will be all that — and then some.

The Wildcats are 5-0 overall, lead the Big Eight at 3-0 and are ranked No. 3 in the latest Wissports.net poll. Middleton is 3-2, 2-1, and can move into a tie for first place in the league with a win.

Verona has won the last three games in this series, and the Cardinals would love nothing more than to hand the Wildcats their first loss of 2024.

JANESVILLE — Late last Thursday, Janesville Parker’s football team headed to its locker room and the faithful fans at Monterey Stadium gave the host Vikings a standing ovation.

Out on the field, Middleton co-coaches Joe Poehls and Tim Simon were scolding their team about what went wrong.

Anyone who glanced at the scoreboard and saw the 26-14 result would have assumed the Vikings were the victors.

Instead, it was the other way around — which is telling for both teams.

Middleton left Parker with a 12-point win, but was extremely disappointed with how it played. Parker, which is still looking for its first win of the season, took solace in the fact they hung with the heavily-favored Cardinals all night.

So as Middleton headed to its bus, it knew it had to be better — much better — starting this Friday when it travels to No. 3 Verona.

If there was any doubt, hesitation or reservation that Middleton’s boys volleyball team could once again compete for a state championship this fall, that uncertainty should be gone now.

The Cardinals, who won the first state title in school history last fall, proved last Saturday they have the firepower to be in the hunt for a gold ball once again.

Middleton went to the Wauwatosa East Invite — a tournament featuring five of the top-eight teams in the state — and captured the championship.

The fourth-ranked Cardinals went 5-0 on the day and downed No. 1 Germantown, No. 6 Cedarburg and No. 8 Nicolet on their way to the title. Middleton defeated Cedarburg in the championship match, 25-21, 25-16.

“We were pumped going into the ‘Tosa East invite,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said. “We knew we had the chance to face multiple ranked teams in the process.”

Tim Simon refused to call it a “must win” game.

“That’s just not how my brain works,” said Simon, Middleton’s co-football coach.

Make no mistake about it, though, the Cardinals’ journey to Janesville Craig last Friday was about as close to a “must win” contest as you’ll find in Week 4.

Sitting at 1-2, and staring at a game later this month at mighty Verona, the last thing the Cardinals could afford was a loss to the upstart Cougars.

Despite some tense moments against a highly-potent Craig offense, Middleton rallied from an early deficit and upended the Cougars, 35-26, at Monterey Stadium.

Cardinals quarterback Joey Passaglia continued his brilliant first year as a starter with 285 yards passing and four touchdown passes. Four different MHS wide receivers caught TD passes and the Cardinals piled up 404 yards of total offense.

Middleton’s boys cross country team finished in third place at the 20-team River Valley Invite last Saturday.

Madison La Follette won the team title with 90 points, while Madison West was second at 97. Middleton was third with 101, while DeForest (110) and Dodgeville/Mount Horeb rounded out the top five.
“We raced all right, kind of mixed results for performance,” Middleton coach Brian Finnel said. “Any PRs were certainly earned in the heat and humidity.”

Freshman Nethan Kaluarachchi was Middleton’s top finisher, placing 11^th overall and finishing the 5,000-meter race in 16 minutes, 52.1 seconds. MHS junior Eric Theusen was 14^th (16:57.0), senior Ben Schultz was 24^th (17:11.2), senior Zachary Tang was 25^th (17:19.3) and senior Owen Winkelmann was 27^th (17:22.4).

Divide and conquer.

Well, almost.

Middleton’s sensational and extremely deep girls swimming and diving team split its group into two and competed at a pair of invites last Saturday.

One group won the eight-team Sun Prairie East Invitational. The other half finished third at the 11-team Brookfield East Invite.

Middleton finished with 556.5 points at the Sun Prairie East Invite, easily outdistancing runner-up Stevens Point (339.5).

“The girls that swam at Sun Prairie did a great job, winning the meet by over 200 points,” Middleton coach R.J. Leiferman.

Middleton’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Anna Dart, Addison Haack, Kaylee Burt and Izzy Ensenberger was second. The foursome of Tabitha Kuhl, Maggie Kirker, Addie Dorn and Dart were fourth in the 200-yard medley relay.

And the Cardinals’ quartet of Addy Palmer, Dina Abdel-Megid, Dorn and Lydia Keebler was sixth in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Middleton’s boys soccer team, which won the WIAA Division 1 state championship last year, is finding that out right now.

Every time the Cardinals take the pitch, their opponent gives maximum effort with hopes of knocking off the king.

For the most part, Middleton has done a magnificent job handling almost every test thrown its way. Last Friday, though, Marquette handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season, a 2-1 setback at the Brookfield East Tournament.

Middleton — which also defeated Madison La Follete, Verona and Wauwatosa West last week — is 6-1 this season and 3-0 in the Big Eight Conference. The Cardinals are also ranked No. 2 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s extremely busy week.

• Middleton 4, Madison La Follette 1 — Eli Knutowski had a pair of goals and the Cardinals downed the Lancers on Sept. 10.

Thanks to a scheduling quirk, it had been four years since Verona’s girls volleyball team came to Middleton.

When the Wildcats finally made the trip west on Sept. 12, the Cardinals couldn't wait for their shot at the defending Big Eight Conference champs.

Middleton made the most of it, too, rolling to a 25-21, 25-22, 25-20 win over the Wildcats. Middleton improved to 3-0 in the Big Eight, while Verona fell to 2-1.

Middleton, Sun Prairie East and Sun Prairie West are all tied for first place in the league early in the conference season.

“I know the team was really looking forward to having Verona come to Middleton for a match,” Cardinals’ coach Ben White said.

Middleton played like it, too.