Northern State University Athletics

Niko Pezonella enters his first full-time season in the Wolves dugout in the spring of 2026. He previously served as a graduate assistant for the program and played four seasons for Dean Berry. 

Pezonella opened his coaching career with the Aberdeen Smittys program, serving as the head coach for the junior legion team. He then joined his alma mater as a graduate assistant for the Wolves in 2024-25. In 2025, the Wolves went 15-32 overall and 11-29 in the Northern Sun. Finally, Pezonella served as the head coach for the 14U Aberdeen Smittys in the summer of 2025.
 
In addition, he served as the business operations graduate assistant for Northern State Athletics during the 2023-24 academic year. He played 127 games for the Wolves from 2018-23.
 
Pezonella earned his bachelor's degree in human performance and fitness in 2023 and master’s degree in Sport Leadership in 2025 from Northern State University.