Second-ranked 197-pounder Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) went 4-1, with his only loss coming to top-ranked Max Askren of Missouri.
Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sanburg) started things off for the 'Cats with a 9-0 major decision over Central Michigan's Matt Steintrager. Precin registered multiple takedowns and earned the riding time advantage to give the 'Cats a quick 4-0 lead.
Eric Metzler (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco), wrestling at 133 lbs., lost a close 1-0 decision to Conor Beebe.
CMU begin to pull away starting at 141 lbs. Eric Kruger scored a 4-0 decision over James Kohlberg (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows), wrestling in the place of the injured Lang to put Central Michigan in the lead 6-4.
Marty Gould (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) surrendered a major decision at 149 lbs. and Vince Colletti (Naperville, Ill./Montini Catholic) lost an 11-5 decision to give CMU the 13-4 advantage.
Greg Hagel (Linwood, N.J./Blair Academy) and Nick Hayes (Councill Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) fought close matches at 165 and 174, respectively, but could not help the 'Cats close the gap to the Chippewas.
The eighth-ranked 'Cats, who have been nearly untouchable from 184 lbs. and up, went into the final three matches trailing 19-4. Another major decision by Herbert over Ben Kelto gave the Wildcats four points. The junior, seeing his first action since Nov. 20, went a perfect 5-0 in the duals with two pins, two major decisions and a technical fall. The top-ranked 184-pounder remains undefeated.
For the third time this season, the second-ranked Tamillow defeated 10th-ranked Wynn Michalak, this time by a 9-3 decision to cut the 'Cats deficit to 19-11. Michalak started the year ranked above Tamillow, but the junior's performance against the familiar foe has helped him rise in the rankings. Tamillow's only loss in the duals was to Missouri's No. 1 Max Askren.
At heavyweight, third-ranked Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) fell to No. 5 Bubba Gritter of Central Michigan. The Chippewa's takedown in the first overtime period proved to the be the difference. The loss was Fox's first in a dual match this season.
The 'Cats start their Big Ten slate at 7 p.m. Friday at Illinois. The Wildcats will host Iowa at Rolling Meadows High School Sunday at 2 p.m. to round out of the first weekend of conference action.
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