Harer has been coaching wrestling for 17 years and he’s gotten his team to the final six times — four times with Muncy, twice with Montgomery — prior to Saturday. But a District 4 Class AA Duals title had eluded Harer each time.

Until Saturday evening that is.

Harer saw his Red Raiders pick up a convincing 41-15 win against Mifflinburg in the championship match to bring home gold and secure a spot in the PIAA team tournament, which begins with a first-round matchup on Tuesday against Honesdale.

“Long time coming. I’ll leave it at that, it’s a long time coming,” Harer said. “It’s exciting. We didn’t just win today, we wrestled really well. We dominated and it was fun to watch. Our kids came in today with a chip on their shoulder and it was fun to watch.”

FRANK DIMON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montgomery's Raiden Felix fights off his back against Montoursville's Gage Wentzel during the District 4 Class AA Duals semifinals.

Montgomery opened the final vs. Mifflinburg with back-to-back decision wins. At 121, Liam Seeley fought off Griffins Walls for a 10-6 win and Carden Wagner had a great match vs. Jack Gramly, winning by decision, 7-4.

Wagner trailed 3-0 after the first period to the No. 17th-ranked Gramley. In the second period, Wagner cut it to 3-1 and kept working against the Wildcat. Wagner then was able to turn Gramly and get in control on top to go ahead, 4-3. Gramley tied it up at 4-4 after the second period.

“Hard-nosed, stayed basic, stayed basic, stayed basic. That’s what he hears from us all the time,” Harer said. “Double overs and we hit him in a throw-by that he hits often in the room. Coach actually called it before he hit it. ‘He’s gonna throw it’ and he did and he got it.”

That was how Wagner secured three huge points with 30 seconds left to take a 7-4 lead and held off the state-ranked Gramly to give Montgomery a 6-0 lead two bouts in.

Mifflinburg used a 15-second pin at 133 by Bradley Wagner and a forfeit at 139 for 12 fast points and a 12-6 lead against Montgomery. But the Red Raiders never panicked and knew they had a capable lineup that could put points up.

FRANK DIMON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Brody Bower lifts Montgomery's Carden Wagner during Saturday's District 4 Class AA Duals semifinals.

And following that forfeit win by Mifflinburg, Montgomery would rattle off a string of five straight wins.

AJ Kroft had an exciting 6-3 SV win at 145 over Gradyn Shuck. Kroft led 3-0 in the second period and held off Shuck for majority of the third, but with time winding down, Shuck got Kraft down for a big takedown wtih three points with 14 seconds left, tying it up 3-3 and forcing extra time.

There, Shuck tried shooting low and grabbed Kroft’s leg. The Wildcat was able to nearly turn Kroft, but the Red Raider had a great move to fight out, reverse and get three points for the victory.

Brandt Harer bumped up to 152 against Mifflinburg and had a 32-second pin vs. Lane Kenamond, which was followed with a 4-2 decision by Trace Furman over Wesley Smith, an 8-4 decision by Josh Knoebel over Jaxon Felmey at 172 and a 3-2 win by Raiden Felix vs. Lucas Miller.

Harer’s win gave him his 199th for his career, which tied Upper Perkiomen’s Zack Kemmer for second all-time in Pennsylvania history.

FRANK DIMON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montgomery's Brandt Harer spins Wyalusing's Rueben Kinney during Saturday's District 4 Class AA quarterfinals.

Just like that, a 12-6 deficit flipped in Montgomery’s favor into a 24-12 lead with four matches remaining.

“He’s one of the most improved kids in our room Day 1 to now,” Harer said about Knoebel “He believes and he trusts and has bought in. It’s neat to watch to see how much better he’s gotten since the beginning of the season.”

At 189, Felix did outstanding in his matchup with Lucas Miller. Felix held a 3-1 lead early in the first period and did a good job countering against Miller to prevent points in the first two minutes. In the second, Miller wrapped up Felix around the waist and brought him down twice, but wasn’t able to secure any points as it remained 3-1.

Miller made it a 3-2 deficit with 1:40 to wrestle in the third period, but Felix again countered anything Miller did and prevented him from swinging the match.

“Love it. It’s awesome to watch,” Harer said about Felix and the season he’s having. “It’s neat to watch. We preach family and we wtrestled like a family today.”

FRANK DIMON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montgomery's Gabe Oberheim gets back points against Mifflinburg's Landen Shemory during the District 4 Class AA Duals final on Saturday.

At 215, Mifflinburg cut the deficit to 24-15 when Landon Moser had a hard-fought 2-1 decision victory against Evna Hugar, but a forfeit win at 285 sealed the dual for Montgomery with just two bouts remaining and a 15-point lead.

“Toughness, guts and our kids showed it. There’s a lot of really good matches and they’re a well-coached good team,” Harer said. “There were a lot of tough matches. Our kids gutted it out and it was neat to watch.”

Montgomery had a tough run to win the District 4 Class AA Duals tournament. After beating Wyalusing in the quarterfinals, Montgomery had to knock off state-ranked Montoursville and state-ranked Mifflinburg in back-to-back bouts. But Montgomery did well no matter who was on the opposite side of the mat. The Red Raiders cruised past Wyalusing, 40-26, beat Montoursville in the semifinals, 44-23, and then beat Mifflinburg handedly.

“This sport is all about matchups. Montoursville’s not a good matchup (for us). Coach (Matt) Yonkin has a great coached team and they’re always ready to battle. They’re just not a good matchup for us and we thought just the opposite with Mifflinburg where we thought we matched up real well,” Harer said. “It’s just a matter of those matchups and being able to take care of what you can control and our kids did that.”

Montgomery held Montoursville to just three wins in contested bouts. Branden Eisenhour pinned Ian Marquette in 18 seconds at 107, Teli Bobotas had a 48-second pin vs. Carter Finck at 133 and Gage Wentzel had a 17-1, 2:54 tech fall win at 172 against Felix.

Next up for the Red Raiders is the team tournament and a trip to Honesdale in the first round. Harer and his wrestlers are going in with no expectations and just plan to go out and wrestle the way they know how.

“There are no expectations. Next thing is we’re going to go wrestle, that’s what we’re going to do,” Harer said. “It’s tough to compete at that level, we know it and we’re going to go fight. We have Honesdale and we’re going to fight. We’re going to go after it.”