I've found the 1.18.2 version works on 1.17.1 with the version limit removed, but it crashes 1.16.5 at launch. I like 1.16.5 since it performs the best out of 1.12, 1.16, 1.17, and 1.18 on my machine. I would like to have this mod there to further improve it's performance.

Not possible*, missing the requirements from mcs side. Also not interested in creating a 1.16 version.
*without a ton more work than in later versions.

least lazy mc mod dev