MUNISING, Mich. (WJMN) – There was a buzz in the air on Sunday afternoon as fans awaited the return of the Mustangs Boys Basketball team fresh off their historic run to a MHSAA Division 4 State Championship.

“It’s awesome,” said Susan Steinhoff, a Munising resident and fan. “They did us proud. We’re very proud of that team.”

“It’s just a wonderful feeling,” said Pete Kelto, the former superintendent for Munising Public Schools. “Those kids were fantastic yesterday. They represented our school, our community, tremendous bunch of kids. Just a lot of community pride.”

“It’s great for our school district, great for our community, a great group of boys that we had this year,” said Paula Ackerman, the Munising school board president. “So, really proud of them and how they represented our community.”

The Mustangs got a welcome back fit for champions. A police and fire escort paraded the team through the heart of Downtown Munising. The team was met with cheers as they embraced with fans outside of Munising High School.

“It feels amazing,” said Kane Nebel fresh off the bus with the state championship trophy in hand. “This whole town is just incredible.”

“This is awesome, the community is great,” said Ashton Wymer, a senior for the Mustangs. “Nothing better than doing this with the boys. We’ve been winning stuff for a long time. There is nothing greater than this community.”

“Well I woke up this morning and it wasn’t a dream,” said Riley murk, a senior for the Mustangs. “It’s amazing. I mean, it feels so great that we brought it home.”

“It feels outstanding,” said head coach Terry Kienitz. “It feels great, I mean, look at all the support we’ve got. Our fans, our community has been just great through this whole run. So, it just means the world to me and these kids, their smile, and the memories that they’re making. They will never forget it.”

For the Mustangs, it was their first trip back to states in nearly seventy years and their first state championship in program history. Two people who had front row seats to it all, help put it all into perspective.

“It was fantastic,” said Cameron Nebel, a play by play announcer for WQXO 97/7 FM – AM 1400. “I could barely believe it and I may have blacked out. It was just great for these kids, for this community. They really did something. It’s about believing and a million things could have went wrong but in that moment, it was really them realizing their dream and it’s great to see.”

“The only word I can come up with is what a team,” said Charlie Nebel, a color commentator for WQXO 97.7 FM-AM 1400. “This team found a way to raise the bar two levels above where any other team here in Munising had ever been. We’ve had great teams here before and we’ve had great players, it just never all got put together and to win a championship you’ve got to be really good and you got to be really lucky and if you’re only one of those, it doesn’t work. This year we were really good and we were really lucky.”