After a long break, Central Michigan wrestling traveled to Indiana and looked to get its first dual win of the season and its first win against Indiana since 1986.

Despite opening the matchup with back-to-back wins, the Chippewas were unable to stop the Hoosiers with a final score of 25-15 as they move to 0-3 on the season.

“We’re getting better,” head coach Tom Borelli said. “We’re not quite where we want to be yet ... We’re wrestling better, we’re competing and we’re pretty competitive we just haven’t broken through yet.”

Falling behind 1-0 in the second period of the first match, CMU’s redshirt sophomore Sean Spidle escaped in the third period to tie the match at one. Following a stalling call on redshirt senior Michael Spangler, Spidle took the lead, 2-1. Not allowing Spangler to take him down, Spidle gave the Chippewas their first win of the day to lead 3-0.

Looking for his first win of the season, CMU’s redshirt senior Vince Perez was down 3-0 early in the first period of the 133 match. Despite an escape to get him on the board, Perez couldn’t keep graduate Cayden Rooks down as he took a 5-1 lead with a reversal. Rooks continued to dominate Perez with another takedown to lead 8-2. Escaping early in the final period, Perez followed up with a takedown to trail 8-7. Completing the comeback, Perez won 11-8 scoring his final four points from riding time to give CMU a 6-0 lead.

“His (Perez) confidence was beat down a little,” Borelli said. “The first period didn’t go real well for him, but he just kept wrestling, kept grinding and then ended up taking the kid down and putting him on his back in the third period ... It’s just a testament to just keep working and good things can happen.”

Unable to keep the momentum going in the 141-pound matchup, a pin from Indiana tied the score at six.

Hoping to break the tie in the 149-pound match, No. 16 graduate Corbyn Munson and No. 13 graduate Graham Rooks grappled with each other refusing to let the other score a point. Munson opened the scoring by escaping in the first period. Down by one to start the third and final period, it looked like Rooks was going to take the loss, but a reversal gave him the 2-1 lead with eighteen seconds left. Unable to escape and force overtime, Indiana took the 2-1 win breaking the tie with a score of 9-6.

Flipping the momentum back, CMU’s redshirt senior Johnny Lovett dominated Indiana senior Nick Bolivar riding him for all the second period. Lovett followed up with an escape in the third period and a takedown to secure the 4-1 win and tie the meet at nine.

“Him (Lovett), Corbyn, and Alex (are) guys (that) have to come through for us,” Borelli said. “If we’re going to be successful as a team, it’s good to have those guys.”

Dropping its next matches at 165 and 174 the Chippewas trialed the Hoosiers 16-9.

Keeping Indiana’s redshirt sophomore Roman Rogotzke down for two minutes, CMU’s redshirt sophomore Cody Brenner looked to get the momentum back on the Chippewas side with an early 4-1 lead. Following two points awarded to Rogotzke for Brenner stalling, Rogotzke was able to escape and tie the match at four. A final second takedown from Rogotzke completed the comeback 7-5 to extend Indiana’s lead 19-9.

“If he (Brenner) learns anything from that match it’s that he’s capable of wrestling on a pretty high level,” Borelli said. “He’s just got to get in a little bit better condition and keep the referees off his back on stalling calls so he can have more energy in his matches.”

The Hoosiers secured the dual meet win with a pin in the 197-pound matchup.

With the win already locked in, the Hoosiers forfeited the final 285 matchup securing the 25-15 win.

The Chippewas have a long break before they compete in the Sheridan Invitational at 10 a.m. on Friday, December 22 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.