A baseball coaching legend in the state of Wisconsin, Marty Paulsen completed his 53rd season as head coach at Fond du Lac High School in 2021. Since 1969, Paulsen and his Cardinals teams have won over 600 games. He ranks second in wins all-time and among active coaches in the state of Wisconsin and is the winningest large-school coach in the state. He remains one of only a handful of coaches in the state to have eclipsed both the 500 and 600-win marks.
Under Paulsen, the Cardinals have made seven state tournament appearances across six different decades and, in 2000, Paulsen led Fond du Lac to a Wisconsin high school state title. His teams continue to find success in the postseason, with the Cardinals making their most recent WIAA State Tournament appearance in 2019.
With over 50 years of service to the school, Paulsen was inducted into the Fond du Lac Athletic Hall of Fame as an individual in 2016 and again in 2018 as part of the team that won the WIAA State Championship in 2000. He was also honored with the Fondy Youth Baseball Meritorious Service Hall of Fame Award in 2006.
Paulsen also coached basketball for the Cardinals for over decade, serving as an assistant from 1971-79 before becoming head coach from 1979-84.
He was named a 2010 ABCA/Diamond Sports Regional Coach of the Year and was honored by the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) as their Coach of the Year in 2000 and their Man of the Year in 2016.
Having been involved with the WBCA nearly since it began, Paulsen has served the association in several capacities. He currently serves as a member of the WBCA Executive Board and was inducted into the WBCA Hall of Fame in 1993.
With his induction, Paulsen will join Tom O’Connell (’07) and Mark Fuller (’15) as the only high school coaches from the state of Wisconsin to be inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame.
Paulsen has spoken at three ABCA Conventions (1997, 1998, 2010) and has given clinic presentations in 12 different states, Canada and Norway.
A two-time all-state basketball player at Cable High School, Paulsen graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in business education. He went on to earn his master’s degree in business and marketing education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971.
