There was plenty at stake on Wednesday night in the Colonial League wrestling landscape. The West Division and a spot in the four-team Colonial League tournament were up for grabs.

Catasauqua (5-3 in Colonial League) picked up a 42-31 win over Northwestern that handed the Rough Riders the division crown and a spot in the league tournament next Monday night. Catasauqua will face top-seeded and unbeaten Saucon Valley.

“They wrestled like there was something at stake and we did not,” Northwestern head coach Jim Moll said. “We expected a tough match. We got pinned in matches where I had us down for wins, which hurts. That’s a nine-point swing sometimes.”

The Tigers (5-3) and Rough Riders finished with identical league records, but Wednesday’s head-to-head meeting on the regular season’s final day served as the tiebreaker.

After Ryan Haas earned a forfeit win at 160 pounds, Will Dellicker grinded out a 7-3 decision over Catasauqua’s Bradley Panto in the next bout to tie the match at 9-9. But Catasauqua had a response.

The Rough Riders won four of the next five bouts, including falls for Adam Reinhart at 182 pounds and Jaryn Hartranft at 106, to take a commanding 33-15 lead. There were also two forfeit wins in that stretch for the Rough Riders.

That stretch turned out to be the deciding factor. Much like the second bout of the match where Northwestern’s Ryan Fink nearly earned a pin in the first period, only to be pinned himself seconds later. A similar scenario played out at 182 pounds. That’s a 12-point swing that would have made a difference in the end for Moll and the Tigers.

“Those are two [I thought we had a chance to win],” Moll said. “And 145 we had a shot to win. There were others where we could have done a lot better.

“It’s huge, especially when you get pinned there. If you’re expecting a win and you get pinned, that’s a nine-point swing.

“It could have gone either way. This might be a match where if we wrestle 10 times, there might be 10 different scores.”

Tyler Watson pinned Donovan Gair in the opening minute of the first period at 195 pounds in the most convincing Tiger win of the night.

“He’s one of our few guys that wrestled well,” Moll said. “

Despite the rough start, the Tigers ended the match on a high note with two strong wins from Donovan White and Harrison Bernhard. Both picked up first-period pins against their opponents.

WHO ELSE IS IN? ... Notre Dame and Wilson, the two wild card finishers who both hail from the East Division, will face off in the other Colonial League semifinal match this Monday. The two teams actually competed in the regular season finale on Wednesday as well, with Notre Dame coming out on top, 36-30. The league championship match is slated for 7:30 p.m. Monday at Catasauqua. Saucon Valley has won the last six league titles.

HONORING THE SENIORS ... Wednesdaynight’s final home match for the Tigers was dedicated to its seniors. Seven Tigers were honored on Senior Night: Jack Casciano, Will Dellicker, Ryan Fink, Ryan Haas, Hayden Ledeboer, Justin Suranofsky and Donovan White.

A LITTLE BANGED UP ... While Northwestern welcomed back Will Dellicker from injury after missing a number of matches, the Tigers were still without Isaiah Johri and Mason Brensinger. The Tigers forfeited three bouts — 220, 285 and 120.

Catasauqua 42, Northwestern 31

145 – Dylan Gino (C) dec. Jack Casciano, 8-6

152 – Sebastian Henry (C) pinned Ryan Fink in 3:06

160 – Ryan Haas (NW) won by forfeit

170 – Will Dellicker (NW) dec. Bradley Panto, 7-2

182 – Adam Reinhart (C) pinned Ryan Haverkamp in 1:16

195 – Tyler Watson (NW) pinned Donovan Gair in :54

220 – Zachary Scheirer (C) won by forfeit

285 – Lavante Bouie (C) won by forfeit

106 – Jaryn Hartranft (C) pinned Eli Dellicker in 1:56

113 – Jake Dellicker (NW) major dec. Cole Brown, 15-7

120 – Jacob Nye (C) won by forfeit

126 – Austin Brett (C) dec. Ben Griffith, 7-4

132 – Donovan White (NW) pinned Bradshaw Henning in 1:40

138 – Harrison Bernhard (NW) pinned Ben Langsdorf in 1:06