The wait is over for the Montville wrestling team – on a number of levels.

The Mustangs hosted their first district since the 1970s and couldn’t wait to go out and win it on their home mat – and they did.

Montville 113-pounder Luke Manieri wanted to win his first district – and he did.

Mustangs 215-pounder wanted to highlight what has been an injury-plagued season – and he did.

Heavyweight Alex Husti wanted revenge – and he got it.

All in all, it was a great day to be a Mustang.

Host Montville cruised to the District 8 team title with 207 points to win handily over Immaculata (185 ½), Morris Knolls (159), Parsippany Hills (152 ½), and Morris Hills (126).

“We put in for the district and our AD (Wayne Guarino) did a nice job of getting it,” said Montville coach Brian Kapral, who was named District 8 Coach of the Year. “It was an evenly matched district with us, Immaculata, Par Hills, Morris Knolls, Morris Hills. It was a total team effort by us.”

Indeed it was. Montville won the district with overwhelming depth. The Mustangs crowned three champions but had six other wrestlers place in the top three. 

Top three finishers automatically advance to Region 2 at Mount Olive, which will be held next Friday night and all day Saturday. 

Husti might have been the happiest man in the gym when he decked Morris Knolls’ Lucas Nagua with a cradle in 4:34. He certainly received the loudest ovation when he pinned. 

Earlier this year, Nagua flattened Husti and that was the difference in Knolls’ 32-27 dual meet victory.

Husti will never forget that night and he used it as fuel to fire himself up ever since.

“Alex wanted that one back,” Kapral said.

He sure did.

Husti has been counting down the days until the district because he wanted another crack at Nagua.

“We lost that match against Knolls because of me,” Husti said. “I feel so much better now. I had weeks and weeks of always thinking about him. I told my mom all week. I couldn’t wait to see that Morris Knolls kid.”

Elsmore has been hampered with an ankle injury but he was able to come away with a pin in 3:23 over Morris Hills’ Matthewn Ochoa.

“Sean has been battling injury,” Kapral said, “but it’s nice to see him come back.”

Manieri, meanwhile, was in control on his feet early on against Immaculata’s Daniel Cabarcas on the way to a 10-2 major decision.

“This is awesome,” Manieri said. “I watched him in other matches and he was always pushing forward so I used my high crotch. I also went with cross body legs, which I just learned. It was definitely lethal.”

Other Montville wrestlers to advance to the regions included second-place finishers Rylan Jones (132), Gage Dembowski (157), and Dominick Kraemer (175) and third-place finishers Alex Rodriguez (138), Aiden Dembowski (144), and Hossain Fallah (165). 

Parsippany Hills had a nice final round of the tournament, led by Outstanding Wrestler James McGinty (120), who was named OW after becoming the first wrestler in school history to win his fourth district when he beat Immaculata’s Ryan Goldstein, 10-3.

Vikings teammate Logan Forgatch (106) flattened Immaculata’s Lucas Loffredo in 3:53 to win his weight in the day’s final weight class. Anthony Caponegro (157) was the third Par Hills wrestler to come away with a district championship when he beat Montville’s Dembowski by fall in 1:06.

Morris Knolls had three individual champions in Ryder Stambach (132), who used a first-period takedown to beat Montville’s Rylan Jones, 3-2, Luke Shivas (165), who pinned Par Hills’ Jarel Hernandez in 2:25, and Kaden Montoya (190), who majored Par Hills’ Cole San Martin, 14-0.

Morris Hills’ Alex Casarrubia (150) had the wildest match of the finals and came away with a 19-11 major over Boonton’s Phoenix LaCorte. 

Boonton’s Anthony Shovlowsky was named District 8 Assistant Coach of the Year.