New Ulm Sports Central - Preserving and Sharing New Ulm Area Sports History

Inducted 2004

Wayne Dietz – Anoka High School – A graduate of Sanborn High School and St. Olaf College. Dietz started coaching at Hector where he coached football, basketball, baseball and track before moving to Anoka in 1956. Between the two schools he coached baseball for 34 years with a record of 312 wins and just 120 losses, winning six conference championships, four district championships and two section championships, finishing second at the state tournament in 1972. Dietz is a past president of the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association and was selected Minnesota High School Baseball Coach of the Year in 1979. Wayne was also a well known and well respected basketball official. Dietz is also a member of the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame. Another noteworthy achievement is 58 years of marriage to his wife, Elizabeth.

E. James Senske – New Ulm High School – A graduate of St. Paul Wilson High School and Hamline University. Senske was head coach for 40 years. His honors and awards are too numerous to mention in a normal setting. Jim is the all-time wins leader in Minnesota as his record was a phenomenal 707 wins and just 171 losses, a winning percentage of 80.5 percent, the only coach with at least 200 wins with an 80 percent winning percentage. His teams won 26 conference championships and 17 section or region championships. The highlight of his career was winning the state championship in 2002. His teams had finished second twice, third seven times, and consolation champion five times. He is a past president of the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association and was on the Minnesota State High School League Board of Directors for four years. He is a three time state coach of the year in baseball as well as once in basketball. He has been a finalist several times for national coach of the year and is a past winner of the Dick Siebert Award. Senske is also a member of the Hamline University Hall of Fame, the New Ulm American Legion Hall of Fame, the New Ulm Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, the Minnesota State High School Coaches Hall of Fame and the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame.

Inducted 2005
Max West – Brownton – Max West graduated from Brownton High School in 1940 and from Moorhead State University in 1950. Max started his coaching career in Clinton, Minnesota in 1951 and coached there for five years. In 1956 he went to Brownton where he coached for another 29 years winning 10 conference championships and three district titles on his way to a record of 355 wins against just 155 losses. Max is a past president of the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association and served as a member of the Lion’s All-Star Selection Committee. He was also a member of the Minnesota State High School Delegate Assembly for many years and is lifetime member of the Minnesota High School Coaches Association. Max has won many awards including the Dick Siebert Award and the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Retired Coach of the Year Award. Twice he coached in the Lion’s All-Star Series. He was the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1980 and was the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year for District 6 in 1981. He is a member of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the KDUZ Sports Hall of Fame in Hutchinson.

Inducted 2008
Al Gisvold – Springfield High School - Known as Gizzy, Al graduated from Ada High School in 1936 and from Luther College in 1941 where he was captain of the baseball team. Al started coaching at Springfield in 1941, but had his career interrupted with serving in the Navy from 1942 through 1945 where he played baseball with various service teams. Al had a fantastic winning percentage in 26 years as the Springfield head coach with 251 wins and 49 losses for a percentage of .837, the best percentage of any coach with at least 200 wins. Al took his high school teams to the state tournament six times with a runner-up finish in 1948 and third place finishes in 1961 and 1963. The 1963 team featured Mike Davison, a lefthanded pitcher who made it to the Major Leagues with the San Francisco Giants. 1948 was an excellent coaching year for Al as he coached three teams into the state tournament that year, the high school, American Legion and amateur teams. Al coached five teams to the American Legion State Tournament. Al was the first Dick Siebert Award winner, in 1966, and is in the Luther College Hall of Fame and the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame. Al passed away in 1995.

Howard Schmidtke – St. James High School - Howard graduated from Morgan High School in 1942 and from Mankato Teachers College in 1949. Howard was a head coach for 23 years, 15 at Lake Benton and eight at St. James, where he also served as an assistant for seven years. His record at Lake Benton was 119 wins and 35 losses, a winning percentage of .773 and he won 104 and lost 64 at St. James, a .620 winning percentage. Overall, Howard’s teams won 223 games and lost 100, a winning percentage of .690. Howard had great success at tournament time in St. James, winning the district title in six of his eight years as head coach from 1977 through 1984. St. James won section titles four years in a row, 1979 through 1982. They were also section runners-up in 1977 and 1983. The highlight of his career would be the state championship his team won in 1979 with his son, Todd, being an outstanding player on that team. Howard also coached the St. James VFW team to a State Championship in 1978 and a third place finish in 1981. Howard was a Dick Siebert Award winner in 1983 and is also a member of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

Inducted 2009
Don Boelter – Sleepy Eye High School – Don graduated from New Ulm High School in 1950 and Luther College in 1954. At Luther, just as he was in high school, Don was a four-year starter at shortstop in baseball and was a three-year starter at forward in basketball. In his senior season of basketball he broke the Luther College single season scoring record. In 1974, Don was selected as a charter member of the Luther College Athletic Hall of Fame. Don started his coaching career at Ceylon where he coached baseball and basketball for three years before moving to Sleepy Eye Public. There he coached baseball for 34 years, winning 309 games while losing 189, a .620 winning percentage. His teams won 9 conference titles and finished runner-up another 6 times. His teams finished lower than third place only once in the Tomahawk Conference. Being in the same district as Jim Senske’s New Ulm teams made it tough to advance, but Don’s teams advanced to the state tournament three times, winning the state championship in 1981 and finishing as runner-up in 1976. His final team in 1989 also advanced to the state tournament. Don was awarded the Jim Dimick Retired Coach Award by the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association in 1998.

Stan Wilfahrt – New Ulm Cathedral High School - Stan graduated from New Ulm Holy Trinity High School, now Cathedral, in 1943 and from St. John’s University in 1949. His collegiate career was interrupted with service in the Navy in WWII. Stan was a captain of both the baseball and basketball teams at St. John’s, earning four letters in both sports. Stan started his coaching career at Gibbon in 1949 before moving to New Ulm Cathedral in 1956. While at Gibbon his teams won 33 and lost 17 while winning three conference titles. At Cathedral his teams won 246 games and lost 68. When Stan retired after the 1978 season, his record for 29 years as head coach was 279 wins and 85 losses for an outstanding winning percentage of .766. His teams won another 10 conference championships at Cathedral and appeared in the state tournament nine times, winning the private school state championship in 1964. Cathedral was also runners-up twice, in 1962 and in 1973 when they lost 2-0 to Cretin and Paul Molitor. That was the only loss of the year for Cathedral after 22 consecutive wins. Only twice did his teams lose more than four games in a year which was highlighted by a phenomenal decade in the 1970’s when his teams won 145 games against just 23 losses, a fantastic .863 percentage. Stan is also in the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame and the New Ulm Cathedral Hall of Fame. Stan passed away in 2005.

Dennis Boe – Redwood Valley High School – Dennis graduated from Minneapolis Southwest High School in 1970 and, after attending North Hennepin Junior College for two years, graduated from Hamline University in 1974 where he played baseball and football. Dennis was an assistant baseball, basketball and football coach at Waseca for five years before moving to Redwood Valley as the head baseball coach in the fall of 1979. He held that position for 29 years and after going 0-14 in his first year, his teams won and lost 293 games over the next 28 years. His teams won four conference championships, including a three-peat in 1992, 1993 and 1994. His 1988 team won the section championship to advance to the state tournament. Dennis was voted District and Section Coach-of-the-Year in 1988 and coached in the Lion’s All-Star Series in 1992. Dennis also coaches American Legion baseball for 24 years. Dennis is a past president of the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association and served on the advisory board for many years. Dennis has kept busy with baseball since his retirement and has coached Team Minnesota for the Harvey Showcase in Chicago for the past four years and has been helping the Minnesota Twins in the scouting department for the past three years. Dennis is a past Dick Siebert Award recipient, but says his proudest moments in coaching were being able to coach his sons, Casey and Corey.

Inducted 2011

John Hellie – Pierz High School - John graduated from Morton High School in 1964 and from the University of Minnesota-Morris in 1968 where he played baseball. He took a teaching and coaching position at Pierz in 1968 and stayed there for a very successful career. John retired as head baseball coach after the 1997 season, finishing his 29-year career with 350 wins and just 139 losses for a .716 winning percentage. John was an assistant football coach for 30 years and a head boys basketball coach for 13 years. His teams won 19 conference baseball championships in three different conferences, seven district championships, and one region championship, advancing to the state tournament in 1986. John was very involved in the youth programs in Pierz. He ran the summer baseball program for 27 years for youth 6-15. He started the American Legion baseball program in 1972 and took a team to the state Legion tournament in 1995, finishing in third place. In 1974, John became the first non-athlete to be inducted into the Pierz High School Hall of Fame.

Inducted 2012
Don Sauter – Arlington-Green Isle/Sibley East High School – Don graduated from Arlington-Green Isle in 1972 and Mankato State University in 1976 with a Master’s degree from MSU in 1984. Don became head coach at Arlington-Green Isle in 1979 and continued as head coach when they consolidated with Gaylord to form Sibley East High School. He was head coach through the 2000 season. In his 22 seasons as a head coach, his teams compiled a record of 346 wins and 138 losses for a fine winning percentage of .715. His teams won 13 conference titles, three at Arlington-Green Isle and 10 at Sibley East. They did that in a 14 year period from 1987 through 2000, missing only 1995. His teams won seven district titles and five region championships. His 1988 Arlington-Green Isle team took third place and his 1993 Sibley East team won the consolation title at the state tournament. The highlight of all that success, though, was two state championships at Sibley East in 1994 and 1998. Don was Minnesota River Conference Coach of the Year 12 times, district coach of the year six times, region coach of the year three times and state coach of the year once, in 1994. He has been involved in various baseball programs in the Arlington area, coaching the summer recreation program, American Legion, VFW and others. Don has stayed active in the sport and now has 32 years as an official for the Minnesota State High School League.

Dave Wendlandt – Brownton/McLeod West High School – Dave graduated from Brownton High School in 1962 and Winona State in 1966 where he played baseball for four years. Dave started his teaching and coaching career at Wells-Easton in 1966, serving as assistant baseball coach for three years and head coach for three years, winning a district title in 1972. He then moved to Brownton where he served as assistant coach for 11 years to Hall of Fame charter member Warren ‘Max’ West. Dave took over as head coach at Brownton in 1985 and was the Brownton/McLeod West head coach for 25 years, winning 268 games. When McLeod West closed, his teams had won six conference titles and had gone to the state tournament in 1998, finishing in fourth place. Dave is currently a volunteer assistant coach with Glencoe/Silver Lake High School. Dave was also involved with American Legion baseball as a coach and league director for 43 years. For the past 37 years Dave has been Brownton’s summer recreation director and has served on the Brownton Baseball Association board for 46 years. In 1998 Dave was inducted into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame and in 2009 he was inducted into the Hutchinson KDUZ/KARP Radio Sports Hall of Fame. Dave has also been a Dick Siebert Award recipient.

Inducted 2013

Tarry Boelter – Slayton High School - Tarry graduated from Sleepy Eye Public High School in 1974 where he played for his father, Don Boelter, who was inducted into the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009. Tarry played his college ball at the University of Minnesota and teamed alongside Paul Molitor in 1977 as the Gophers reached the College World Series. In 1978 Tarry signed a professional baseball contract with the Minnesota Twins and played two and a half seasons before entering the coaching field. He has spent the past 27 seasons at Murray County Central where his teams have compiled a 350-206 record. His teams have won 10 conference titles and seven runner-up finishes. They have been runner-up in sub-sectional title games 9 times, have been runner-up in sectional title games 3 times, and won the section championship twice. His team reached the state tournament in 1992, taking third place, and in 2001 when his team won the state consolation title. Tarry has been active with baseball at all levels in Slayton, organizing youth baseball programs and Legion baseball in Slayton for the past 25 years, while organizing and playing in a men’s senior league.

Wayne Dietz – Woodbury High School – Wayne Dietz graduated from Gaylord High School in 1971 and from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1975. Wayne was a superb three-sport athlete in high school in football, basketball and baseball. He was selected for Gaylord’s Outstanding Senior Award and was a first alternate for an appointment to the Air Force Academy. At Gustavus he played football and baseball. Wayne became the head baseball coach at Woodbury in 1981 and coached for 28 years. Counting his years as an assistant he coached there for 32 years. His record was 278 wins and 257 losses with St. Paul Suburban Conference championships in 2000, 2001 and 2005. He coached Woodbury to the state tournament in 2004 where they lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Eden Prairie in the championship game. Wayne was a three-time St. Paul Suburban Conference Coach of the Year and coached in the all-star games for both baseball and basketball. Wayne also coached football at Woodbury and was winner of the Butch Nash Award in 1998. Wayne passed away on October 14, 2008.