The 11th-rated Rams (10-6) reached the 10-win mark for the ninth time in Coach Mike Duroe's 11 seasons at the helm.
Cornell beat Loras (1-11) for the 10th consecutive time, but trailed 13-10 at the halfway point of this meet. The Rams pulled it out by taking four of the final five matches, including Tucker's 5-2 decision over Dillon Wagner.
Cornell clung to a 20-16 lead going into the heavyweight bout involving Tucker, who was competing for the first time since Jan. 8. The Ram senior posted a first-period takedown and added a reversal in the second period on his path to victory.
"Tucker is an anchor for us at the end of a meet. We can count on him to wrestle a solid match," Duroe said. "We did some good things, but need to keep getting better. We've been training hard with high-volume workouts the last couple weeks and it's showing a little bit. We looked a little tired."
The Rams recorded bonus points in three of their six match wins, highlighted by 133-pounder Phillip Opelt (JR/Neillsville, Wis.)'s pin in 4:26 over Michael Triplett. The team received major decisions from eighth-ranked Trevor Engle (SR/Kansas City, Mo.) at 149 (9-1 over Colin Griffin) and Ben Hewson (FR/Loveland, Colo.) at 165 (9-1 over Sam Schuler).
Hewson tallied the first eight points in his convincing win that put the Rams ahead to stay at 14-13. Cornell's Brian Cristion (JR/Port Angeles, Wash.) followed with a 7-6 victory in the first tiebreaker against Chris Malone at 174. Cornell made it three straight with Joseph Keller (FR/Windsor, Colo.)'s 12-7 decision over Javier Soto at 184, pushing the lead to 20-13.
The Duhawks had a chance at the end after Malcolm Watson's 10-3 decision over Ben Bergen (FR/Oak Park, Ill.) at 197 cut the margin to 20-16.
Loras prevailed in a tight battle at 141, with Evan Weaver rallying for a 10-8 sudden victory over Josh Martin (SO/Lombard, Ill.). At 157, Loras' Jimmy Davis scored a 12-3 major decision over Aaron Engle (JR/Kansas City, Mo.). The Rams forfeited the first match of the night at 125.
"The most important thing we need to work on is our minds," Duroe said. "We've got to start focusing on the mental side, which is so critical in this sport. Our guys need to trust their training and abilities."
Coming up - Cornell will take its non-starters back to Loras Saturday for the Duhawk Open. Action gets underway at 9 a.m.
Results:
125 – Dayton Olson (Lor) won by forfeit
133 – Phillip Opelt (Cor) pinned Michael Triplett, 4:26
141 – Evan Weaver (Lor) dec. Josh Martin, 10-8 SV-1
149 – #8 Trevor Engle (Cor) maj. dec. Colin Griffin, 9-1
157 – Jimmy Davis (Lor) maj. dec. Aaron Engle, 12-3
165 – Ben Hewson (Cor) maj. dec. Sam Schuler, 9-1
174 – Brian Cristion (Cor) dec. Chris Malone, 7-6 TB-1
184 – Joseph Keller (Cor) dec. Javier Soto, 12-7
197 – Malcolm Watson (Lor) dec. Ben Bergen, 10-3
285 – Eric Tucker (Cor) dec. Dillon Wagner, 5-2.
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