Sports

Rebuild?

Please!

Reload?

You bet!

Middleton’s boys volleyball team lost five of six starters from its 2023 state championship team. At the Arrowhead Quadrangular on Aug. 30, though, the Cardinals showed it could be another special season in Middleton.

The Cardinals, ranked No. 2 in the state, dropped a 26-24, 25-23, 25-20 match to No. 1 Marquette. Middleton then upended No. 6 Sussex Hamilton in a five-set thriller, 19-25, 25-21, 27-25, 18-25, 15-11.

No. 3 Hartland Arrowhead was also part of this star-studded, season-opening event.

“These two matches are exactly why we schedule tough,” Middleton coach Dylan Griffith said. “We've got a new group on the floor and it was a great opportunity to see how we matched up with some of the other top ranked teams coming into the season. This event is always super competitive and it's not often that you can get the preseason No. 1, 2, 3 and 6 ranked teams all in the same gym.”

Hopes are high — again.

Expectations are soaring — again.

And Middleton’s boys soccer team showed why.

The Cardinals traveled to Lake Geneva Badger last Friday and routed the Badgers, 8-0, in their season opener. The game was stopped after 57 minutes due to the mercy rule.

Riley Kann led the way with two goals and two assists, and seven Cardinals scored goals.

“Have an average day.”

That was one of the countless lines that the quick-witted and extremely clever Gregg ‘Doc’ Cramer often delivered.

Cramer, a longtime teacher and coach in the Middleton/Cross Plains district, and a beloved member of the community, died unexpectedly on Aug. 15. He was 72.

The great American showman P.T. Barnum once said, “Always leave them wanting more.” Cramer did exactly that.

“He brought joy to everybody he was around,” Middleton co-head football coach Tim Simon said. “He was a funny guy, he kept things on the lighter side and in perspective.”

While Cramer loved delivering his “have an average day” line, there was nothing average about him.

Cramer taught English at Middleton High School for 33 years. He coached football for most of that time, as well as track and field.

Later, he became a fixture in the press box working home Middleton football games.

Kevin Pauls was joking.

Sort of.

For nearly two decades, Middleton’s boys soccer coaches have been asked, “Is this the year?”

The Cardinals won a state title in 2004, then went hungry until 2023. Then last year’s group made a magical run, won the WIAA Division 1 state title and brought a gold ball back to Middleton.

So as Pauls prepared to discuss his 2024 team — one that could be even better than a year ago — he joked, “You can't ask, ‘It's been 20 years since your last title. Is this the year?’ ”

No, the Cardinals definitely threw that monkey off their backs last year.

The question now becomes can this group repeat? And the answer appears to be a resounding yes.

Middleton brings back two all-state players, two more all-conference standouts and a deep and gifted roster.

So when the Cardinals begin their new season at Lake Geneva Badger on Friday, expectations will be sky high once again.

The way Dylan Griffith sees it, Middleton’s boys volleyball team isn’t trying to defend a title.

Instead, this is an entirely new group, one trying to carve its own path and write its own story.

If that leads to a second straight state WIAA Division 1 state title for Middleton, even better.

“Our group last season was unbelievably fun to coach and work with, but that was their story,” said Griffith, who led the Cardinals to a state title in his first season as head coach. “Our focus will be on the season ahead and for the guys on this squad to write their own story.

“Is (a state title) always a goal? Certainly. Winning a state championship isn't something that is given to you, so I know the guys are eager to earn the right to get the opportunity to try again.”

Middleton’s run to the first state title in school history was certainly magical. And Griffith admits it’s given the program even more juice than usual this offseason.

There have been times Middleton’s boys cross country coach Brian Finnel felt ‘The Streak’ was in real danger.

Years where Finnel looked at how his guys were performing during the track and field season, then wondering how he’d get his cross country team to shine later that fall.

Year after year, though, Finnel’s cross country teams delivered. And today, the Cardinals’ magical string of WIAA Division 1 state tournament appearances has reached 11.
“The consecutive state appearances is quite impressive,” said Finnel, Middleton’s magnificent leader. “It is something I can’t place my finger on. It’s quite an honor and point of pride for sure. I have to tip my hat to those teams in the last 11 years.

“There have been a few years where I didn’t think we would get to state. I would get to May and look at track performances and just be like, whoa, we are in trouble if we don't get to work.

It was only May, three months before the cross country season was set to begin.

And Middleton co-coaches Kelly Julian and Lauren Dilley gathered their team to outline expectations.

The Cardinals had their streak of four straight trips to the state meet snapped last season. And Julian and Dilley wanted to be sure their group understood what it will take to make a return trip to state this fall.

“We laid out our expectations if they wanted to get to state this year,” Julian said. “We were really honest with them about the times they would need to achieve and the consistency they would need to commit to in order to achieve that goal.”

It appears they were listening. Closely.

Middleton’s girls had a terrific summer and now return a gifted group that’s added some talented newcomers. So when the Cardinals begin their new season Thursday at Arrowhead, they’re optimistic they can have a big year and make a run at returning to state.

The crowd showed up in full force — even though it was a Thursday night before school was back in session.

There was a buzz in the air at the magnificent Borden Athletic Complex. Like every August, optimism was everywhere.

And for three quarters, everything went perfectly for Middleton’s football team.

Then, visiting Bay Port spoiled the party, outscoring Middleton, 16-0, in the fourth quarter and racing past the Cardinals, 37-28, in the season opener for both teams on Aug. 22.

“I don’t think we played horrible,” Middleton co-coach Tim Simon said. “They’re supposed to be one of the top dogs in the state. We feel we will too.

“But I said to the kids, a lot of close, tough games come down to five or six plays. And they made those five or six plays that we didn’t make.”

MENOMONEE FALLS — Middleton’s girls golf team has been grinding, with four 18-hole events in five days.

And for the most part, the Cardinals have shined.

Middleton finished in second place at the two-day, 36-hole Brookfield Central/Menomonee Falls Invite on Aug. 19-20 — a tournament most consider much better than the state meet.

Defending WIAA Division 1 state champion Divine Savior Holy Angels won the 27-team invite with a 621, while the Cardinals were second with a 650. Brookfield East (663), Arrowhead (673) and Oregon (687) rounded out the top five.

Middleton senior Emily Utter and junior Annika Jafferis both tied for 12^th place individually with a two-day score of 162.

Utter shot an opening round 85 at the incredibly demanding Wisconsin Country Club, then followed that with an impressive 77 at Wanaki Golf Course.

Middleton’s girls tennis team enjoyed a big week, winning all four of its matches.

The Cardinals swept Madison Memorial, 7-0, on Aug. 22. Then Middleton won all three of its matches at the Madison Memorial Invite held last Friday and Saturday.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ matches.

• Middleton 7, Madison Memorial 0 — The Cardinals rolled to straight set wins at all seven flights in a Big Eight Conference meet against the Spartans.

Lydia Sabat, Sophia Pientka, Shreya Ramesh and Mira Russo all notched straight set wins on the singles side.

In doubles play, the teams of Sophie Shi and Sarah Li, Hannah Lister and Elina Koenst, and Haley Klatt and Sam Pomroy all earned straight set wins.

MADISON MEMORAL INVITE

• Middleton 7, Sun Prairie East 0 — Middleton swept the battle of Cardinals last Friday on the first day of the Madison Memorial Invite.