“There are a lot of people I want to [thank]. My parents [Tim and Kelly], my dad especially because when I was younger, we’d go to these big tournaments and I’d be the only kid there,” DeVlaeminck said. “My dad coached me, same with my uncle Kevin Fier, he was my coach ever since I can remember, and those two … I’m really close with them and the whole entire coaching staff, obviously, and just how if you need to wrestle with them, they’ll wrestle with you.”

Heading into his senior season, the bar was high for DeVlaeminck. He was coming off a state runner-up finish in Class A 133, with the championship match against Mille Lacs’ Zach Remer being decided by a 5-2 sudden victory.

Despite the successful junior season, it was a challenging offseason for DeVlaeminck. He wrestled his way through the section and state tournaments through a knee injury that he had sustained in December. He knew he wasn’t 100% with his knees locking up in certain positions, but didn’t know the extent for most of the season, and in May he had surgery on his knee that left him unable to train over the summer.

“I wasn’t able to do any wrestling or get ready for football. I couldn’t do any of that, so I had to mentally stay in it because it’s not easy not being able to wrestle and play football,” DeVlaeminck said. “It was just really tough knowing that your opponents are getting better and you’re just sitting at home. It was really hard.”

Photo by Jake McNeill: Minneota's Adam DeVlaeminck (right) leads the Minneota wrestling team out onto the mat ahead of the Section 5A team wrestling championship in Ortonville.

Minneota co-head coach Matt Myrvik noted that his work ethic and dedication to the sport have paid dividends in how DeVlaeminck performs on the mat, with co-head coach Buysse adding that even when he wasn’t able to practice, he’d still come with the knee brace on to support his teammates.

“He’s such a hard-working kid, he deserves everything he’s got,” Myrvik said. “He’s so good to his teammates, he’ll wrestle with anybody in practice. It’s not about just him, he’s trying to help those other kids get better and push them and show them the way.”

The late start to ramping up for football season and minimal ability to train for wrestling in the offseason didn’t stop DeVlaeminck from putting together another stellar campaign. Over the course of his senior year, DeVlaeminck compiled a 43-4 record with 10 pins and 114 takedowns.

Those numbers allowed DeVlaeminck to shoot his name up toward the top of the Minneota record books. His 193 career wins rank third in program history, trailing only Christian Skillings’ 215 in 2011 and Sam Derynck’s 198 in 2010. DeVlaeminck’s 501 career takedowns also trail only Skillings’ 530 and are 79 more than the next closest Viking.

Numbers like that don’t come without plenty of work behind the scenes. For DeVlaeminck, it’s the nature of competition itself that drives his work ethic.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Minneota's Adam DeVlaeminck takes down an opponent during the Section 5A individual wrestling championship match in Canby.

“It’s super competitive, and that’s what I like. The drive you need to be good at wrestling, that’s what really gets me into it,” DeVlaeminck said. “When you’ve got people like your teammates that want the same thing as you, that’s what motivates me the most. To be able to go out there and physically and mentally beat someone, there’s nothing like that.”

Success is something DeVlaeminck has been well-accustomed to over his time in prep sports. Even outside of wrestling season, DeVlaeminck was a member of four state football championships with the Vikings.

As a linebacker and running back this year, DeVlaeminck scored seven total touchdowns on offense and had an interception on defense, establishing himself as a key contributor for the championship run. That sort of cross-sports championship pedigree is something that DeVlaeminck tries to pass on to the younger kids as a three-year wrestling captain.

“I’ve been lucky enough and had enough success, and I just feel like the kids are always watching me,” DeVlaeminck said. “It goes down to the youth that they’re watching me, so that’s just always in the back of my mind. Just have to be as helpful as possible, as selfless as possible and just be a good person … There’s a lot of young guys, and that’s what I like about it is seeing them improve and getting better. I think they’ll be right back in it next year, it’s just rewarding to see my teammates get better.”

“We’ve got a ton of them that look up to him and go to him for advice or different things, and he’s always willing to help them,” Buysse said of DeVlaeminck. “It goes all the way down to the youth and elementary stuff. His nickname is Zip, and all the little kids yell it at him in the hallway. What he’s left behind is going to help this program more than what he even probably knows. The way he carried himself, everything he did, how hard he worked. Never complained about nothing. I mean, he would just go to work and do what he was supposed to do.”

Photo by Jake McNeill: Minneota's Adam DeVlaeminck (top) grapples with an opponent during the Section 5A individual championship in Canby.

Beyond the individual success DeVlaeminck attained this season, he contributed heavily to Minneota’s success as a team. Through the end of the section tournament, Minneota had compiled a 29-1 dual record on the year, topping Paynesville 47-17 in the Section 5A championship to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2016.

Minneota also picked up another win over LeSueur-Henderson in the state quarterfinals, though they lost to Chatfield 34-27 in the semifinals and Jackson County Central 30-27 in the third-place dual. Still, the Vikings returned home with a fourth-place trophy and DeVlaeminck earned All-Tournament honors.

“Throughout my whole entire high school career, we’ve always gotten to the section finals or the final four. There was one year we didn’t but all those years, we’ve been there and just fell short. Finally to get over that hump, that will probably be the highlight [of the season],” DeVlaeminck said. “It’s sweet seeing the wrestling community come and support wherever you went, and it was pretty sweet to go out like that.”

DeVlaeminck was always a wrestler that put the team above all else, with Buysse saying DeVlaeminck would always wonder what’s best for the team, whether it was cutting weight or wrestling up a weight class. That’s part of why his character is among the things the Minneota coaching staff is most proud of him for.

“He’s a true example of how to do it the right way, whether he wins or loses,” Myrvik said. “He understands that you’re not going to win all the time, but the amount of work and everything that he puts in is why he’s there. He represents our school very well, and that’s just the type of kid he is.”

Photo by Jake McNeill: Minneota's Adam DeVlaeminck (back) takes down an opponent during the Class A team wrestling tournament in St. Paul.

The Vikings’ team success didn’t come without adversity. Landon Pohlen, a key contributor for the Vikings over the course of the year, sustained a neck injury that left him unable to move his extremities during Minneota’s regular-season finale against Pipestone.

In his absence, the Vikings made sure they continued to represent and compete for Pohlen at their meets. DeVlaeminck and Brock Fier came up with the idea of making T-shirts with Pohlen’s photo on them that read “LANDON STRONG” across the middle. The Vikings wore the shirts to their section tournament matches, and proceeds from the sales were given to the Pohlen family.

“I feel like everyone was pretty rattled, which, rightfully so, but there was a job at task, and it’s mental, like a lot of the sport of wrestling is,” DeVlaeminck said of how he and the team continued to focus after the injury. “It was emotional, a lot of kids were emotional, but I was like, your opponent does not really care, so you’ve just got to get back into it and wrestle hard.”

DeVlaeminck doesn’t intend on wrestling in college, joking that he’s not sure his body can handle it anymore, so this year’s third-place match marked the end of DeVlaeminck’s wrestling career. Still, he left quite a legacy after qualifying for state in five different individual weight classes, coming back with a 113 sixth-place finish as a freshman, a 133 runner-up finish as a junior and a 139 third-place finish this year. And with his name all over the Viking record books, his legacy won’t be forgotten any time soon.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Minneota's Adam DeVlaeminck (center) looks down at the Class A fourth-place trophy after the Vikings' team state third-place dual against Jackson County Central in St. Paul.