The Harers were honored at the District 4 Class AA wrestling tournament
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Though the primary hope was to advance as many wrestlers to regionals as possible and take home district gold, two historic occurrences gave the Montgomery faithful something else to be excited about heading into the District 4 AA tournament.
Montgomery senior Conner Harer went into the tournament with two career wins away from breaking the District 4 record after four decorated seasons, a prospect the senior has awaited his entire career. And after being honored for hitting 300 career wins as a coach one month earlier, head coach Denny Harer would be inducted into the 2024 class of the District 4 Wrestling Hall of Fame.
"It's great. I'm just trying to slow everything down," said Coach Harer after his team's sectional title the previous weekend. "Obviously, this is my last year with my oldest son, Conner, so I'm trying to slow it all down and enjoy these moments, enjoy the process with them and enjoying these environments."
With a 17-second pin in the district semifinals on Saturday, Harer secured win No. 183 of his career, surpassing Southern Columbia grad Jaret Lane for the most career wins in District 4 history. That accomplishment came just a few hours before coach Denny Harer was honored for his induction in the District 4 Wrestling Hall of Fame.
"I've always dreamed of this. Not a lot of people get to have these moments and I'm grateful for it and I wouldn't change it for the world," said Conner Harer when discussing their accomplishments.
"My dad's put a lot a work into me, into the community and wrestling, going to clubs after practice and he deserves this moment. I was happy that I was able to break the winning record too just because I've been doing this for so long."
It may not be his record for long, with younger brother, Brandt, on track to surpassing it by his freshmen season. Each defended district titles on Saturday, with Conner earning his fourth and Brandt his second, the latter which concluded the event eight wins away from hitting 100 as a sophomore.
"I won't have the record for long," said Conner Harer earlier in the season, then referring to Montgomery's program record for career wins. "My younger brother (Brandt) is coming along and he's going to shatter all my records. So, I've got to keep it while I can."
Those accomplishments came at the forefront of an exciting day for the Red Raiders, who claimed district bronze and advanced six wrestlers to regionals. Along with the Harers, Montgomery senior Caden Finck also secured his second district title, defending his previous from last year.
"I'm filled with joy after a tough finals match like that and going all way," said Finck on coming out on top. "Really wrestling hard the whole tournament makes me feel good and confident for next week's regional tournament."
Neither run was a given, with Brandt Harer pulling away from No. 6 Max Wirnsberger of Warrior Run, bolstered a small lead late with a takedown and coming out of the match with just his fourth win by decision of the season, 6-2.
For Finck, he battled multiple guys ranked in the top-20 in the state, overcoming Warrior Run's Shupp by decision, 10-4, to get to the finals. He'd face Milton's Alex Hoffman there, who came into the tournament sporting just three losses on the season. Amidst a neck-and-neck battle, it took two tiebreaker periods to overcome Hoffman, pulling off an escape in the second tiebreaker period to secure the 2-1 win by decision.
That makes eight combined district titles between the trio, with Conner Harer earning his fourth and Brandt Harer and Finck attributing their second, defending their titles from last season. Finck, who's grown alongside Conner over the past four seasons, acknowledged how special the day was after his title win.
"It means a lot," said Finck when asked about the Harers being honored. "Being able to wrestle with Conner and having Denny as my coach, we all work hard in the room and we're all family. So, it means a lot to have them accomplish what they have."
Along with the team's three champions, Manny Stoltzfus also made it to the finals at 107, falling to Montoursville's Teli Bobotas to take home silver. Coy Bryson took fifth and Porter Hall claimed sixth, rounding out the advancements from the Red Raiders.
The six Red Raiders will look to continue leaving their mark on the individual postseason at the Northeast Class AA Regional this upcoming weekend, set to begin this upcoming Friday. It only gets more exciting from here.