Before Northwestern and Catasauqua could potentially meet in a win-and-advance match in the season finale for the final Colonial League wrestling tournament spot, the Tigers had to take care of business last week against Southern Lehigh.

The host Tigers left little doubt from the start. Except for one forfeit, Northwestern (4-3) won five of the first six bouts en route to a 43-31 win over the Spartans last Friday night.

The win set up Wednesday’s match against Catasauqua. The winner will be crowned champion of the West Division and earn a spot in Monday’s four-team league tournament.

“Tonight was big because this set us up to have a chance to go to leagues if we beat Catty,” head coach Jim Moll said. “We’ll have our hands full with them. They are tough. They have a full lineup, and we give up a few weight classes, which makes it hard.”

Moll picked up career win No. 105 on Friday night, which put him atop the all-time wins list for Northwestern wrestling coaches.

But Moll wasn’t the only one recognized in front of the Northwestern crowd. During the Tigers Senior Night, it was both the underclassmen and upperclassmen that shined throughout the lineup.

Eli Dellicker (113), Jake Dellicker (120), Ben Griffith (132) and Mason Brensinger (138) all picked up pins for the Tigers early on.

Freshman Lucas Miller picked up one of the most impressive wins of the night at 145 pounds. After staving off a takedown in the first period, Miller went on to earn a takedown of his own and then dominate in a 9-0 major decision.

“Our guys came out and were pretty hyped up tonight,” Moll said. “Eli and Jake set the tone early. Ben had a fall at 132, and that kid was pretty good. He bumped up from 126, and he was the better of their light weight kids down there. Him bumping up to wrestle Ben, we thought Ben would pull that one out, but we didn’t expect bonus points there.

“[Miller] wrestled great. That was one of the best matches that he’s wrestled all year. He was aggressive and kept scoring points. He was persistent.”

Miller pointed to being able to hold off that takedown as the turning point in the match.

“I was a little nervous going into the match,” Miller said. “It was obviously a big match for me. I knew the kid was good. I came out and just wasn’t thinking about it too much.

“He caught me off guard. I was able to scramble out of it and get behind. I honestly think that helped me have control over the match.”

The Tigers gave up two other forfeits and lost just three other bouts. A tough 10-6 win for Harrison Bernhard at 160, followed by falls for Tyler Watson (170) and Ryan Haverkamp (182), put Northwestern in front 43-10 with four matches remaining.

“Mason is a good wrestler,” Moll said. “He knew how to get him to his back and how to hold him once he got him there. Definitely the way that we started off was huge.”

The win helped the Tigers’ case for a district playoff berth in Class 2A. Northwestern currently sits in ninth place with a .495 rating.

“We’re wrestling to get into league duals, and we’re wrestling to get into district duals,” Moll said. “They take the top 12 [for districts]. We were 11th going into tonight, so we are right on the bubble. If we would have lost tonight and then lost to Catty, that would have most almost definitely knocked us off.”