The back-and-forth battle between Lindenwood Univ. and host Montana-State Northern continued its intensity during the Saturday morning session at the NAIA National Championships in Great Falls, Mont. With only the gold-medal finals left, Lindenwood's lead is six points, meaning the team title is still up for grabs.    Lindenwood entered the round with a 13 point lead, built with six semifinalists and five consolation warriors. Montana State-Northern was going the direct route, putting eight wrestlers into the semifinals, but with nobody left in the wrestlebacks. The semifinals proved to be a key round as the teams battled for points.    MSU-Northern had the better semifinal round, putting five of their eight competitors in the finals. Lindenwood placed three of their six semifinalists into the championship round. MSU-Northern was able to erase the Lindenwood lead after the semis, but only had a few point edge after the round ended.    MSU-Northern's finalists are Carl Valley (125), Kyle Klonizos (165), Kyle Fisher (174), Tyson Thiverge (184) and Emmitt Wilson (197). Advancing to the finals for Lindenwood were Dustin Teeman (149), Brian Holt (165) and Dustin Zahursky (174).    Battles between the two colleges may prove to be key in the final standings. In the semis, the only battle was won by Wilson of MSU-Northern, who stomped Wayne James, 15-2. There will be two gold-medal battles between the teams, as Klonizos will face Holt and Thiverge will battle Zahursky.    The year of the unseeded wrestler continued in the semifinals. At 133 pounds, Jordon Ottow of Southern Oregon advanced to the finals. At 165, Klonizos was unseeded and reached the gold-medal match. At 174, Zahursky was also a non-seeded finalist. In comparison, only four No. 1 seeded wrestlers made the finals this year.    The morning session continued after the semifinals with two key rounds of wrestle-backs. First up was the consolation semifinals determined which of the wrestleback competitors would be going for third place, and which would be going for fifth place.    MSU-Northern kept up the pressure in this round, advancing Eric Dunmire (141) and Matt Carter (Hwt) into the third place match, and Caleb Schaeffer (133) in the fifth-place round.    However, Lindenwood took advantage of their larger number of wrestleback participants, taking to a three-point lead after the consolation quarterfinals. Included were four wrestlers who moved into the bronze-medal round, Brent Bruner (133), Chad Smith (157), Eric Brown (184) and Wayne James (197). In all, Lindenwood had 11 of their 12 wrestlers earning All-American status, and all 11 are still able to add points to the team total.    Then came the third, fifth and seventh place bouts, the round that always shows the true heart and desire of the competitors. These athletes are not going home as champions, but have an opportunity to end their season with a win and a medal. For the Lindenwood and MSU-Northern wrestlers, there were a few more precious opportunities to add to the team total with victories and bonus points.    Lindenwood again had a superb round, winning five of their eight matches. MSU-Northern won two of their three bouts, and even with some bonus points had to watch Lindenwood as it moved farther ahead. The tournament has turned into a math teacher's dream, as every match for these teams has big meaning.    The second to last match of the session, as the other mats were already being rolled up, was the third-place battle at 197 pounds between Wayne James of Lindenwood and former national champion Michael Irving of Cumberland College. James won the match, 5-2, giving the team some valuable points.    The final match of the session was the heavyweight third-place bout, this time with No. 5 seeded MSU-Northern's Matt Carter against No. 2 seed Michael Whitehead of Southern Oregon. Fans crowded around the mat, with the locals trying to give Carter a boost against the favored Whitehead. The hometown advantage was not enough this time, as Whitehead used his size and strength for a 6-2 win. It was a lost opportunity for MSU-Northern, and time is running out.    With 164 points, Lindenwood has a six point lead over MSU-Northern, which has 158 points. The finals will feature MSU-Northern's five wrestlers against Lindenwood's three athletes. There will be two MSU-Northern vs. Lindenwood gold-medal bouts. Will MSU-Northern's five wrestlers do enough damage in the finals to catch and pass Lindenwood? We will know in a few hours.    Semifinal summaries  125-pounds  No. 5 Justin Portenier (Dakota Wesleyan) dec. unseeded Ivan Sanchez (William Penn), 6-0  Portenier controlled the entire bout, scoring a first period takedown, a second period reversal, a third period escape and a ton of riding time.    No. 2 Carl Valley (MSU-Northern) dec. No. 6 Aaron Hartnell (Mary), 5-2  After a scoreless first period, the second period was a push, as Valley got the takedown but Hartnell scored two escapes for a 2-2 tie. Valley took over in the third, with an escape then a takedown with just eight seconds to go for the 5-2 win.     133-pounds  unseeded Jordan Ottow (Southern Oregon) dec. No. 5 Dustin Sanders (Embry-Riddle), 4-3  A close match throughout, which was tied at 2-2 and 3-3 during the action, it was Ottow who had enough juice to edge out a victory.    No. 2 Rob Janikowski (Wisconsin-Parkside) dec. No. 3 Caleb Schaeffer (MSU-Northern), 9-1  The home crowd could not help Schaeffer, as Janikowski had the upper hand the entire match. Scoring a takedown in all three periods, and dominating on top to secure riding time, Janikowski was clearly the superior wrestler this morning.    141-pounds  No. 1 Brad Russell (Wisconsin-Parkside) dec. unseeded Eric Dunmire (MSU-Northern), 5-3  Russell showed why he deserved the top seed by winning the key positions in a close battle. Russell scored the opening takedown in the first period and never trailed. Dunmire scored an escape and a late takedown in the third period to tie the bout at 3-3, but Russell's riding time advantage forced Dunmire to let him up and try a last-second takedown attempt.    No. 2 James Guizar (Menlo) dec. No. 3 CJ Campbell (Lindenwood), 9-5  Guizar was the dominant wrestler on the feet, scoring a first-period takedown and three third-period takedowns to take control of the bout.    149-pounds  No. 5 Dustin Teeman (Lindenwood) vs. unseeded Danny Castillo (Menlo), 13-5  Teeman scored the first takedown, and received some key backpoints in the second period to open up a comfortable lead. After Castillo made a comeback late in the second period to close the score to 6-4, Teeman had a strong third period, with three takedowns and a two-point turn for exposure.    No. 7 Saul Lucatero (Menlo) dec. No. 6 Chris Harada (Simon Fraser), 4-2  A choppy match that started with an illegal move call against Harada, neither athlete had much luck scoring on the opponent. Lucatero had a key takedown in the third period, forcing Harada to have to try some desperate attempts that fell short.    157-pounds  No. 1 Neal Ewers (Simon Fraser) vs. No. 4 James Bean (Bacone College), 6-4, ot  An even match throughout, both wrestlers scored a takedown and an escape for a 3-3 tie after one period. In the second period, Ewers got the escape and in the third period Bean got his escape, knotting things at 4-4 at the end of regulation. It was defending champ Ewers who scored the clutch takedown for the overtime win.    No. 2 Pat Cadwallader (Embry-Riddle) dec. No. 3 Joey Martinez (Menlo), 2-1  Another tight bout where neither wrestler could complete their attacks, it was Cadwallader who came out ahead in a nailbiter.    165-pounds  No. 5 Brian Holt (Lindenwood) dec. No. 8 Jory Dick (Missouri Valley), 5-4  In a battle between rival Missouri schools, Holt jumped to a 4-1 lead but Dick refused to quit. Dick tied it up at 4-4 in the third period, with an escape and a stalling penalty against Holt, but the difference was the 1:23 in riding time that Holt wracked up from the top position.    Unseeded Kyle Klonizos (MSU-Northern) vs. No. 7 Andy Mueller (Wisconsin-Parkside), 5-4  After a scoreless opening period, Klonizos scor