Rylan Samuelson battles Dickinson’s Jake Glaser in the 2026 state wrestling finals. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
FARGO — Devils Lake junior Rylan Samuelson finished second at the state wrestling tournament for the second consecutive year.
Besides Samuelson, the Firebirds had three boys wrestlers make the podium in their respective weight classes.
Max Volk will go home with a sixth-place finish. Tucker Bennett and Gregor Samuelson each finished seventh.
“Just proud,” Devils Lake head coach Brendon Flynn said. “It’s not easy. A lot of our kids battled throughout the year. There was a lot of growth. … Super excited what we did. Super proud. Super thankful. And I just want to thank God for what they keep blessing us.”
State final
No. 2 seed Samuelson fought until the end but couldn’t keep pace in a rematch with No. 1 seed Jake Glaser in the 121 championship.
Samuelson trailed 16-2 after two periods, with an escape in each period. He had a takedown in the third period and avoided a repeat of last year’s technical fall. But Glaser still came away with a 17-5 major decision.
“He wrestled his heart out,” Flynn said. “He closed the gap from last year. You win some, you lose some. And your heart goes out to him because he put in a ton of work. And at the end of the day, we’re just proud of him for the effort that he puts in. It’s not the outcome he wanted, but we’re still extremely proud of what’s he done, what he does for our program.”
Flynn said that Samuelson was in the back running sprints right after he lost.
“Testament to his character. … It’s just who he is,” Flynn said. “So I know he’s going to come back stronger. I know this is going to motivate him to work even harder. And we’re going to make one last run at it.”
The remainder of the consolation rounds preceded the finals on Friday.
Second-round wrestle backs
Nine Firebirds competed in the boys’ second consolation round.
Three stayed alive: Bennett, G. Samuelson and Volk.
Bennett, seeded No. 12 in the 145 weight class, won his second straight match after falling in Thursday’s first round. He won by default at 2:42 over No. 6 seed Tanner Thoreson (West Fargo). Bennett was already leading 12-3 when the default happened.
Samuelson, the No. 7 seed in the 107, scratched out a win over No. 9 seed Grady Greenhaw (Watford City). The match was tied 2-2 and 3-3 — Samuelson came up with a last-second takedown to win the match by decision, 6-3. He pointed towards his cheering section up in the seats as he moved on to the next round.
Volk, originally seeded 11th in the 139, won by default at 4:23 over No. 12 seed Ben Quittschreiber. Volk was leading 6-0 at the time of default, with one takedown in each period.
Logan Charboneau, Coby Dronen Levitt, Easton Encinas, Aiden Stiven, Wesley Fisk and Caber Bryce Volk had their individual tournament runs end in the second consolation round.
Third-round wrestle backs
Volk kept his streak going with a win, while Bennett and Samuelson took losses.
Volk won by injury default at 2:58 over No. 10 seed Landon Wallette (Turtle Mountain). It was a match he trailed after the first period, 7-0. He took the lead with a four-point near fall in the second period to go ahead, 10-8, before Wallette had to default. Volk had come up with two takedowns earlier in the period.
With the win, Volk advanced to the consolation semifinals.
Bennett, meanwhile, took a 1-0 decision loss to No. 7 seed Holden Kopari. The lone point was an escape with four seconds left in the third period.
Samuelson fell by pin at 1:30 to No. 6 seed Hamden Goulet (Grand Forks Red River).
Bennett and Samuelson each moved to the seventh-place match in their respective brackets.
Consolation semifinals
Volk was overpowered by No. 4 seed Jetton Wadeson in the consolation semi.
He trailed 14-1 before getting pinned at 3:39.
The loss moved him to the fifth-place match.
Fifth-place match
Volk had a 3-0 lead over No. 8 seed Tyson Taylor (Williston).
But Taylor went ahead with a takedown in the second period, then pinned Volk at 3:26.
Volk settled for a sixth-place finish.
“It finally clicked,” Flynn said of Volk’s state run. “And a lot of that was he just started having fun. … It’s kind of funny; before he went into this tournament, he was like, ‘I just want to break people today.’ And I was like, ‘All right, man. Go get ‘em.’ It was that determination and grit that got him on the podium in a pretty loaded weight class.”
Seventh-place matches
Bennett was matched up with No. 5 seed Brody Ray (Grand Forks Red River). He won by forfeit.
Bennett finished seventh at state for the second straight year.
“Tucker just kind of finds a way, at the end of the year, to get himself on a podium,” Flynn said. “He had kind of some ups and downs this year, but at the end, he put it together and got himself back. And we’re proud of him and how he wrestled.”
Samuelson also faced the No. 5 seed, Minot’s Jack Combs, and won. He took a 14-4 major decision victory. Samuelson netted one takedown in each period.
The freshman placed in his first time at the state tournament.
“Gregor matured a lot this year,” Flynn said. “He made a personal choice, and it showed. He just made a decision: ‘I’m going be good. I’m going to place at state. And here I am.’”
