William Bulfer
received his bachelors degree from Western Illinois State
University where he played football and baseball. He went on for his
masters at the University of Northern Colorado. In 1942, Bulfer came
to Eastern State Normal School to coach football and basketball.
Because it was war-time, the football season was canceled. He
entered the military in 1943 where he was awarded the Purple Heart,
European Eastern Ribbon and the Bronze Star.
Bulfer returned to Madison in 1946 where he coached football,
basketball, baseball and track. He taught Economics, Physical
Science, Kinesiology, Anatomy, and Physiology. He also served as
athletic director and chairman of the Health, Physical Education and
Recreation Division. Bill retired in 1977. Bulfer was the Honorary
Referee for the Chamber of Commerce Track meet in 1972, inducted
into the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Fame in
1982 and was awarded the Dakota State University Distinguished
Service Award in 1993.
Evelyn and the late Bill Bulfer have five children: Bill, Jim,
Susan, Patricia, and Dan.
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Robert Caselli is a
1951 graduate from Dakota State University. He was an educator for
36 years with 34 of those in South Dakota. During those years, he
served as teacher, principal and coach. In each teaching position,
he coached football, basketball, and track. During his college
football days, he was named to Tom Harmon's Little All-American
Football team and, in 1984, he was inducted into the South Dakota
Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Fame. He was the recipient of the
1986 Dakota State University Distinguished Alumni Award.
In 1960, he received his Masters degree from the University of South
Dakota and did post-graduate study at South Dakota State University
and the University of Chicago.
From 1989-1993, he served as a South Dakota State Representative
from District 12. His community activities include Charter President
of the Sioux Falls Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, former President of
the Downtown Sioux Falls Kiwanis, former Secretary of the Board of
Directors for Turn About, former Vice President of the Sioux Falls
Retried Teachers, former President of Our Saviors Lutheran
Congregation in Sioux Falls and Stephan Ministry Leader for United
Lutheran Church in Bella Vista, Arkansas. Other awards received by
Caselli include the Sioux Falls Downtown Kiwanis Outstanding Club
Leader and the South Dakota Music Educators Association
Distinguished Administrator Award.
Robert and his wife
Delila, live in Bella Vista. They have four children, Becky, R.
Craig, Garth and Mary.
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David Gassman is a
1971 graduate of Dakota State University. He was named SDIC All
Conference in baseball from 1969-1971 and NAIA All District from
1970-71. In 1971, Gassman received the Dusty Anderson Memorial Award
and Outstanding College Athlete of America. His college pitching
record in three season at DSU was 20 wins and 6 losses.
Gassman has played
amateur baseball for 28 years and has managed amateur baseball for
17 years. He Has more victories and strikeouts than any player in
the history of SD amateur baseball. He has 333 career wins and
5,201 strike-outs, along with 37 state-tournament wins. In 1994,
he became the first state amateur pitcher to reach 5,000
strike-outs.
In 1975 and 1979,
Gassman was named the most valuable player in the South Dakota
state tournament. He has been named to the SD Baseball All
Tournament team twelve times in twenty years. His teams won the
State Championship in 1966, 1975, and 1979. They were runner-up in
1986, 1990, and 1993. In 1988, he was a member of the South Dakota
Over-40 National Championship Team. This year Gassman became South
Dakota's State Commissioner for baseball.
He coached football at
Scotland High School, coached football and basketball for two
years at Canova and also taught at Philip. He now farms near
Canova with his wife, Rhonda, and their four children, Tracy,
Jill, Nicole, and Garrett.
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Maurice "Ed" Harter
received his bachelors degree from Western New Mexico University in
1953. He coached all sports at Fairland High School in Fairland,
Indiana. In 1955, he coached basketball in Rosewell, New Mexico and
then coached four years at Rio Grande, Ohio. From 1960-62, Harter
was the assistant varsity and head freshman coach for the University
of New Mexico.
From
there, he came to coach at DSU for 28 years. At one time or another,
Harter has done it all. He coached basketball, baseball, and golf,
and was an assistant in football. He also served as the athletic
trainer. He earned the school's first SDIC Basketball Championship
in 1967 and finished that season with a 20-6 record. Ed finished his
basketball coaching career at Dakota State with over 200 wins. His
teaching included courses in Prevention and Care of Athletic
Injuries, Golf, Basketball Theory and Officiating, Baseball Theory
and Officiating, Bowling and various Health courses. Harter was
inducted into the SDIC Hall of Fame in 1991.
Ed and his wife,
Phyllis, live in Madison. Their two children, Steve and Lynn, are
both teachers in Minnesota.
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Myron Moen, Class of
'67, was DSU's basketball ace when he broke the NAIA field goal
shooting percentage and was named NAIA All-American Honorable
Mention that year. He was named to the NAIA District 12 Team in 1966
and 1967. He was also named to the SDIC All-Conference team in 1965,
1966 and 1967. He was named Underclassman Athlete of the Year in
1965. In 1966, with his shooting at 70.5%, Moen was the NAIA
National Field Goal Shooting Shooting Percentage Champion.
Moen holds a number of
DSU records including the second and third spots in most points
scored in a game when in 1965 against Dordt he scored 50 points
and then later in the year, scored 45 against Southern. In that
same Dordt game, Moen made 20 free throws which makes him number
one in that category. In a game vs. Northwestern College in 1965,
he shot a sizzling 15 of 15 from the free throw line. Myron is
number two in most points scored in a career with 1,886 points and
a 21.7 points per game average.
Moen claims 3 of 4
season field goal percentage records with 70.6%, 68.7%, and 65.8%.
He is also number one in career field goal percentage with 68.4%.
He holds the Dakota State single season scoring average record
with 29.5 points in 1964-1965. In 1988, Moen was inducted into the
SDIC Hall of Fame.
He and his wife, Judy,
have two children. Michael lives in Wichita, Kansas and Michelle
lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Darwin Robinson, a
1974 graduate of Dakota State, is currently a Senior Vice President
of Marketing and Operations at Community Insurance in Redfield,
South Dakota.
While at DSU, Robinson
was a recipient of the Karl Mundt Scholarship. He was captain of
the track team in 1973 and 1974. In 1972, Robinson was 4th in the
NAIA Decathlon and was NAIA Little All-American. He followed in
1973 with 3rd in the NAIA Decathlon and again was named
All-American. He still holds the DSU Decathlon record of 6,637
points which he set in 1973. In 1974, he was co-captain of the
football team. He was All-Conference in 1972 and All-Conference
and All-District football in 1973 and 1974.
In Robinson's senior
year at DSU, he carried the ball 192 times for 1,018 yards for an
average of 5.3 yards per carry. He was the first player to ever
pass the 1,000 yard mark in one season. He led the Trojan team
that year with 11 touchdowns and was the leading kickoff and punt
returner. He holds DSU football records in most carries in a game,
46 vs. Huron; most catches in a game with 9 vs. DWU; and most
catches in a career with 110. Robinson was a sophomore on the 1971
team that won the Boot Hill Bowl and became the first and only
South Dakota college team to win a post-season bowl game.
In 1974, Robinson was
drafted by the Washington Redskins in the eighth round. In 1976,
he played for the Seattle Seahawks. Robinson was inducted into the
South Dakota Intercollegiate Hall of Fame in 1987.
Darwin and his wife,
Londa, live in Redfield. Their son, Ryan, is a freshman at DSU and
will be playing basketball this year for the Trojans.
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Jeffrey Rodman is a
1977 graduate of Dakota State University where he received his
degree in elementary and physical education. While at Dakota State,
Rodman was named SDIC All Conference Football in 1974, 1975 and 1976
and named to the NAIA All District 12 Football Team in 1975 and
1976. In 1974 and 1975, he was District 12 Honorable Mention. In
1976, he was named as an NAIA First Team All American. In 1976, he
was the NAIA Scoring Leader Rusher with nearly 1400 yards. IN 1977,
Dakota State named Rodman Athlete of the Year and retired his
jersey.
After college, Rodman
played four seasons with the Middleboro, MA Cobras of the semi-pro
Eastern Football League (EFL). He was named to the EFL All-Star
Team four times from 1980 to 1983. IN 1981, Rodman was the EFL
Most Valuable player. He was inducted into the South Dakota
Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Fame in 1993, as well as the
Randolph High School Hall of Fame in Massachusetts.
Rodman
still holds DSU records for most career carries with 584; career
yardage record with 1,365; longest run from scrimmage, 95 yards; and
most touchdown receptions in one game with 5 vs. Southwest State
University. Additionally, he holds scoring records fro most points
in a game, 30; most points in a season, 126; most points in a
career, 274. During his college career, Rodman rushed 100 yards in
seven different games and established ten school records during the
1976 season.
In 1993,
Rodman received a Master of Education degree in School Leadership
from Harvard.
Presently,
Jeff is Principal at Wells Junior High School in Wells, Maine.
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Tom Shea graduated from
DSU in 1972. While at DSU, he was an All-Conference and All-District
baseball player. He was also a member of the Boot Hill Bowl
Championship team. In 1972, he was the recipient of the Dusty
Anderson Award. Shea took over the football head coaching duties at
DSU from 1981-83 and coached baseball from 1979-1985. He was a three
time SDIC Coach of the Year in baseball with his teams winning SDIC
Championships in 1984 and 1985.
After
leaving DSU, he went to Peru State in Nebraska where his team went
on to win the 1990 NAIA Division II National Championship, and he
earned NAIA Coach of the Year honors. During his tenure at Peru, he
received Tri-State Coach of the Year honors in 1989 and 1990 and was
named the Omaha Broadcasters Coach of the Year in 1990. He was also
named Nebraska College Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1990. From
Peru, he moved to the University of Mary where he has complied a
28-9-1 record, advanced to the quarter finals of the NAIA Division
II playoffs in 1993, and won the North Dakota College Athletic
Conference in 1993. Shea's overall record as a head football coach
is 75-43-3 which makes him the 10th winningest coach in NAIA
history. Shea was inducted into the South Dakota Intercollegiate
Conference Hall of Fame in 1991. The University of Mary was ranked
20th in the nation in this years' preseason NAIA Division II poll.
Tom and his wife, Patsy,
live in Bismarck, North Dakota and have five children: Besty,
Wendy, Cory, Peggy and Patrick.
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Les Knutson-The
Alumni Coach of the Year for 1995 is Les Knutson. Knutson, a 1973
graduate of Dakota State, has taught Physical Education and Social
Studies for nineteen years in Okabena, Minnesota. He has coached
volleyball, girls basketball, track, football and cross-country
during his tenure. He is currently the head coach in four
sports--girls cross country, boys cross country, girls basketball
and boys track & field. He has been the head girls basketball coach
for eighteen straight seasons with a total win-loss of 297-100. He
has had five seasons with 20 or more victories, including a perfect
26-0 season in 1980-91 and the 1981 State Championship. In 1994, the
girls basketball team had a record of 23-4 and won their
sub-section.
Knutson
began coaching boys track & field in 1987 and had been making steady
gains. His team won 9 meet titles last year and complied an overall
win-loss of 99-8. Knutson also started the cross country program at
his school in 1991. The first year, the boys team placed 6th out of
18 teams at the Sectional West. In 1992, the boys team went to win 8
meet titles, including the sectional championships. They boys team
finished the season by claiming the second-place at the state meet.
In 1993, the boys team was ranked number one. They won every meet
they competed in and repeated as Section 3 Champions and captured
second place honors at the state meet. In 1994-95, the boys team
placed 4th in their section.
Les and
his wife, Cheryl, have four children: Lance, Chad, Lucas, and
Chelsey and reside in Heron Lake, Minnesota.
