Bonded by selflessness and love for one another, the brotherhood shared by the team was the core to the Vikings’ success this season. Buysse and Myrvik both complimented the group on their team chemistry, which led to a Section 5A championship, a team state tournament berth for the first time since 2016 and a lengthy list of individual accomplishments along the way.

“I think our mindset when we started the season was that we’re the best team in the section, and I think that’s what we lived by all year long. Whether we were or not, I think we were trying to change our mentality, to get the kids to believe that they were,” Myrvik said.

“There’s such strong wrestling in the sections that we’ve been in … We know the competition is going to be high, and for us to get out, it’s going to take everybody. It’s going to take a good tournament at the end of the year. I think that was our mentality from the start, that we just thought we were a better team than everybody.”

And, that exact mindset carried the Vikings to new heights.

Photo by Jake McNeill: The Minneota wrestling coaches watch from the sidelines during the Class A wrestling tournament.

Minneota started out the year winning its first 15 matches straight in dominant fashion, and had just one regular-season loss to Aberdeen Central 33-29 on Jan. 17. Impressively, the Vikings won their 26 regular-season matches by an average of 44 points.

“Going into the year, we knew we had a pretty deep group with a lot of good depth, and some older kids. Obviously, we knew we had a good shot to be able to hopefully make it back [to state]. Our kids worked really hard all year,” Buysse said. “We moved a lot of guys in and out of the lineup … [We were] able to manage that a little bit, to make sure everybody was ready when their time came. This is a really unselfish group that would do anything for each other, and that was one of the big things obviously, [for how] you can have continued success and turn out throughout the year.”

A 47-17 win over Paynesville in the section championship officially gave the Vikings their spot in the state tournament, and brought home some hardware with a fourth-place finish. Minneota fell just shy in the third-place match 30-27 to Jackson County Central.

Both Myrvik and Buysse noted how the team’s experience played a significant role this season, with a majority of the roster returning after coming up short to Canby in last year’s section championship. The Vikings again will be returning a large group of wrestlers next year.

Minneota also had eight individual state qualifiers in Heydan Danielson, Quinton Anderson, Adam DeVlaeminck, Mason Javers, Blake Mead, Brock Frier, Randy Sorensen and Cael Fier, five of whom placed at state (DeVlaeminck, Javers, Brock and Cael Fier and Sorensen).

Photo courtesy of Jeremiason Photography: Minneota coaches (left to right) Brock and Matt Buysse, Kris Fier and Matt Myrvik yell to their wrestlers during a dual at Minneota High School.

“I think all this started in the offseason last year … The commitment we had behind our offseason wrestling was a big thing, and a lot of the older kids push the younger kids to come into those things,” Buysse said. “It was program-wide. We had a lot of elementary kids that came through it, so I think that was where it all started, and then just carried that momentum into the year.”

Beyond all the success reached on the mat, Myrvik and Buysse also serve as pivotal role models, which has left an impact on the wrestlers.

“They’ve been there. Myrvik, he’s coached me since I was five years old, and there’s nothing more I can say about the guy. He’s unbelievable. One of the best coaches, [if not] the best coach I’ve ever had for football and wrestling. He does it for the kids, not for anything else. It’s really special to be coached by him, he’s a really good role model,” DeVlaeminck. “Coach Buysse, he’s very technical, very smart and he’s a good coach. All of our coaching staff, they’ll do what’s best for you. If there’s something that you need help on, all of them will help you.”

Buysse and Myrvik, along with the entire coaching staff, have worked to instill a positive team culture and confidence that translates to performance.

“As a team, they’re really close. They did a lot of things together, and they’re just good kids to everybody … They hold each other accountable in and outside of the room. That makes a big difference, too,” Buysse said. “There’s a lot of outside things and different things can happen, but they’re a pretty close group, and you need that to have the success that you want to have.”

Photo by Jake McNeill: Matt Myrvik cheers on the team from the sidelines at the state wrestling tournament

“To see the growth from some of our older kids, where they were maybe two years ago to where they are now, and even just after the season in the last month to where they’ve gone to, was huge,” Myrvik added.

Continuing to carry on Minneota’s winning culture is also important to the wrestlers, with Buysse and Myrvik both noting their dedication to being present in the youth programs.

“Even after the season is done, we still had our youth stuff that just finished up this weekend. We had six to eight, or even 10 varsity guys coming to the youth practice and helping out with those,” Buysse said. “The younger kids obviously look up to them, and that shows they don’t care about just the varsity side things. They care about the programs.”

As the season progressed, Minneota was hit with some adversity between injuries and illness. But, the temporary setbacks didn’t fault any long-term success as each wrestler was prepared to step in when needed most.

“The depth that we had and just preparing kids all year long … We’ve done that the last how many years. I mean, we put a lot of kids in our lineup. I think we had 24 or 25 kids wrestle varsity matches this year … And everybody won a match at the varsity level,” Buysse said. “You never know [when someone will] get sick or someone gets hurt, so you have to have somebody ready, and I think that’s one thing that definitely has helped.”

“I think that says a lot about our kids, too, because they’re unselfish,” Myrvik added. “You look at [the] older kids, they could be going after win records, and they could be going up, and they’re not. They’re allowing those younger kids to get the experience, and they never say a word. I think they’re a very unselfish group of kids, and that really leads to success.”

Minneota was led by a group of five seniors this season with DeVlaeminck, Brock Fier, Hunter Danielson, Carson Javers and Allen Mendoza. Brock Fier and DeVlaeminck were the team’s captains.

“I think it was just great to see our seniors go out that way … Just giving them that experience, knowing how much time they invested in their careers and to our program, and none of them had ever experienced the team [state tournament] part of it. [That] just makes it that much more better for us as coaches and the community as well,” Myrvik said. “All five of them have just done great things.”

Myrvik has been a part of the coaching staff with Minneota since 1997, as has Buysse since 2015. The two joined together as co-head coaches for the past four seasons. They both emphasized their gratitude to their entire coaching staff, noting that any success and awards are a full-team effort and representation of the program.

“We’re exceptionally proud of where our programs are at right now. Obviously, we know there’s still work to be done, and there’s a lot of things we can improve on … I think we’re always looking on ways of improving,” Myrvik said. “We are exceptionally proud of all our kids in our program, from our youth to our high school, and we’re exceptionally proud of our coaches, from our youth to our high school. They’ve been a huge part of what we’re doing as a program, and just a special thanks to the parents and our community.”

After completing a season that will help define the standards for the coming years, the lessons the wrestlers learn off the mat from Buysse, Myrvik and the coaching staff may be what sticks with them the most.

“I feel like just carrying yourself and representing where you come from, Minneota, and being humble, you get that a lot from them [the coaches], and that carries on,” DeVlaeminck said. “No matter what, they are always in your corner.”