There was plenty riding on the Montana State University-Northern wrestling team's final Maroon/Gold Scrimmage.
    And when the dust settled on Wednesday night's dual at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse, the Gold had an 18-12 victory over the Maroon, and several Lights seized starting spots in the MSU-N lineup in the process.
    "I was really pleased with how the dual went," Northern head coach Tyson Thivierge said. "It was our third dual and again, a lot of close matches. Things really tightened up which means the guys are progressing, and they are really out there competing. So I was very pleased."
    Four starting spots were up for grabs on Wednesday night.
    At 133 pounds, Ronan freshman Cameron Neiss defeated former Havre Blue Pony Ryan Shelstad to take the No. 1 spot. And on one of the most exciting matches of the night, Demetrios Mitchell bested Garrett Tennant 6-3 at 141 pounds to earn the No. 1 spot. Tennant beat Mitchell last week in Ronan, but Mitchell came back to win in Glasgow and again on Wednesday night.
    The final two starting spots were taken by Anthony Weerheim, who pinned Cole Gorder at 149 pounds and Cody Miller, who defeated Tay Todd 4-2 in another close match.
    "Those were all flip of the coin matches," Thivierge said. "And they were all tight. It just shows we're two deep at all of those weight classes and we are comfortable with any of those guys who competed for those spots in our lineup."
    The Gold team sewed up the dual with Jared Miller beating former Pony Ethan Hinebauch 7-5 in overtime. Hinebauch is the starter at 165 pounds. Kody Reed also got a pin for the gold at 197 pounds, while Rudy Shaffroth earned a pin for the Maroon in the heavyweight match.
    The Lights have one more warm-up before their season-opening dual with North Idaho College on Oct. 29 in Havre.
    On Saturday, MSU-N will hold its annual Alumni Dual at 1 p.m. at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse.
    "I'm pleased with the way the guys are going at it right now," Thivierge said. "You saw tonight, guys came out and were real competitive. They were attacking, going after each other and trying to score. I think we're in good shape right now and we just have to continue to improve, to progress and build our conditioning. But I'm really excited about the way we're wrestling going into the North Idaho dual."

Gold 18, Maroon 12

133 — Cameron Neiss, G dec. Ryan Shelstad, M, 11-4; 141 — Demetrios Mitchell, G dec. Garrett Tennant, M, 6-3; 149 — Anthony Weerheim, M pinned Cole Gorder, G, 5:23; 157 — Cody Miller, G dec. Tay Todd, M, 4-2; 165 — Jared Miller, G dec. Ethan Hinebauch, M, 7-5 in OT; 197 — Kody Reed, G pinned Nick King, M, 2:41; HWT — Rudy Schaffroth, M pinned Devin Norland, G, :57. Exhibition — Mickey Cheff dec. James Petersen, 6-4; Gary Anthony maj. dec. Travis DuMont, 17-5.