Gulseth Hired As NSU Baseball Coach

ABERDEEN, S.D. - Northern State University athletics director, Bob Olson, has announced that Mark Gulseth has been hired as the head baseball coach for the Wolves. Gulseth was brought onto the NSU staff as an emergency hire last June and was asked to accept the permanent position following a recent hiring search. Gulseth is also an admissions counselor at Northern.

"We are excited that Coach Gulseth came to the forefront in our search process," said Olson. "He has established a good foundation within his first year and we feel that the future looks bright for the baseball program under Coach Gulseth's leadership."

Gulseth wrapped up his first season as skipper of the Wolves baseball squad last weekend. He brought the inherited Wolves to a final record of 15-28 overall and 11-21 in the Northern Sun Conference. This is just the third time in the past ten years that an NSU squad posted 15 or more wins. Additionally, it is the most NSIC wins for any Northern team since conference play expanded to 20+ games in 2002. The Wolves wrapped up the year with wins in six of their last eight games.

Gulseth has years of experience coaching baseball in the Aberdeen area. He has led the Aberdeen Smitty's Legion baseball team since 2001 and served as head coach of the Smitty's high school team for the first four years of it's inception. Gulseth was named South Dakota High School Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2005. His Smitty's won the 2007 State Championship, just one of three titles earned in the four years under his reign.

Gulseth played collegiate baseball at the University of New Mexico, where he was named a Western Athletic Conference All-Star in 1992 and 1993, and was a 1993 NCAA baseball All-American. He was a 19th round draft pick (526th overall) for the San Francisco Giants in 1993 and spent seven seasons with the organization playing first base and outfield.

Gulseth received a degree in physical education from Moorhead State University in 1996 and earned a Master's degree in health and physical education from Northern State University in 2006. He was a physical education, health and mathematics teacher at Leola Public Schools prior to taking the position at NSU. While there, he coached the Leola boy's and girl's golf team from 2000-04 and was named South Dakota High School Golf Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2002. Mark and his wife, Meredith, live in Aberdeen with their three children, Jaeger, Annika and Ryker.
*Courtesy: NSU Sports Information