The first session has set the stage for a wide-open team race at the 45th annual NAIA National Wrestling Championships at the Bison Sports Arena in Great Falls, Montana    The atmosphere was intense from the opening whistle, as competition was held on six mats. The stands were packed right from the first session. International wrestling announcer Ed Aliverti, who traditionally works wrestling's most important events, kicked off the tournament with his rendition of O Canada and the U.S. national anthem.    The seeds held up well during the first round in almost every weight class. The only weight where two seeds went down was at 165 pounds. No. 3 Dallas Heid of Mary was beaten by Nathan Rolfe of Simon Fraser and No. 4 David Rivera of Embry-Riddle was upset 10-5 by Kris Fleurestil of William Penn. A No. 8 seed at 125 pounds, Richard Gant of Embry-Riddle, fell by fall to Ivan Sanchez of Wisconsin Parkside.    The second round was more volatile, as the No. 1 seed at 125, Pat Runez of the Univ. of Mary, was knocked off by unseeded Josh Sorum of Bacone College, 3-2. In the next weight, at 133, No. 8 Alan Roness of Jamestown College was pinned by unranked Jordan Ottow of Southern Oregon. Another No. 8 Sam Melendez of Dana was beaten in a 10-8 overtime bout by unranked Danny Castillo of Menlo.     The local fans went wild at 141 when unseeded Eric Dunmire of Montana-State Northern scored a 3-1 overtime win over No. 5 Pete Isham of Dana. Another lost seed at 141 was No. 6 Derek Wiegel of Mary, who fell to unranked John Young of Cumberland Univ. At 157, the seed that fell was No. 6 Chad Smith of Lindenwood, who lost 8-4 to unseeded Dan Dempsey of Wisconsin-Parkside. At 165, Montana State-Northern knocked off another seed, as Kyle Klonizos beat No. 6 Ryan Guffey of Wisconsin-Parkside. At 174 poiunds, Embry-Riddle lost another seed, when No. 3 Joe Hurtado was pinned by Joe Robinson of Wisconsin-Parkside.    The 184-pound class was the first to keep all eight seeds alive moving into the quarterfinals, as no seeds had been defeated through two rounds. The 197-pound class followed suit, with all eight seeds advancing without a loss. At heavyweight, the No. 7 seed Chad Johnson of Dakota Wesleyan went down by a 16-8 margin to Gilbert Jones of Missouri Valley College.    The tournament included 194 entries, featuring 54 returning All-Americans and eight returning champions. The only late change in the event came at 141 pounds, where No. 5 seed Craig Klawitter of the Univ. of Wisconsin-Parkside did not weigh in. The seeds slid up a spot, with Pete Isham of Dana taking the No. 5 spot.    2001 champions in the field include Andy Medders of Cumberland College (133), Ken Schmidt of Wisconsin-Parkside (149), Neal Ewers of Simon Fraser (157) and Matt Cobb of Missouri Valley College (174). All have No. 1 seeds coming in, except Schmidt, who received the No. 3 slot. All moved forward without a loss during the morning session.    Defending champion Southern Oregon led after two rounds, with 35 points, followed by talented Lindenwood of Missouri with 33 points. Host Montana-State Northern seems to be peaking at the right time, and with the support of the local fans, is wrestling above seed so far. MSU-Northern was third with 32.5 pounds, followed by Wisconson Parkside in fourth with 30 points.    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical of Arizona was an early favorite, but the loss of some seeds early on proved damaging. With 21.5 points and fifth place after two rounds, Embry-Riddle needed to put some athletes in the finals and wrestle well in the wrestle-backs to keep their championship hopes alive. After two rounds of consolations, when the morning session ended, Embry Riddle had dropped to eighth.    The contenders had already stepped up in the consolations. The morning ended with Southern Oregon on top with 48 points, Montana State Northern on their heels with 40 points and Lindenwood in third with 37 points. Missouri Valley College rallied to move into fourth place with 33 points and Wisconsin-Parkside was next with 32.5 points.