DeKALB | In a battle against a national powerhouse, the NIU wrestling team gave everything it had but couldn’t pull out the victory.

The NIU grapplers dropped a 27-9 decision Friday night at the Convocation Center against No. 5 Central Michigan. However, the final score wasn’t indicative of how the night went, as the Huskies went toe-to-toe with the Chippewas deep into the meet.

NIU’s Pat Castillo started off the night defending his No. 17 ranking against CMU’s 19th-ranked Luke Smith and pulled off a dramatic 3-2 decision by earning a takedown during the final period in the 125-pound match-up.

After losses from NIU’s Gralan Early and Justin Metcalfe, No. 10-ranked Huskie senior Mike Grimes stopped the bleeding for NIU by recording a hard-fought 3-2 victory over CMU’s 20th-ranked Brandon Carter in the 149-pound class.

Two matches later, No. 9-ranked Johnny Galloway tied the score at nine by posting a convincing 8-2 win over 19th-ranked Trevor Steward of CMU.

With the score tied at nine after six matches, Danny Burk stepped onto the mat against CMU’s seventh-ranked Brandon Sinnott in the 174-pound battle and nearly pulled off a major upset. Burk led 1-0 heading into the final period, but couldn’t hold off one of the nation’s best, dropping a 5-3 decision to put the Chippewas up 12-9.

“Danny really wrestled tough tonight,” NIU head coach Dave Grant said. “Our ranked guys all had big wins for us again tonight.”

Not wanting to risk further injury, Grant decided to forfeit the 184-pound match-up due to a minor ankle injury to 16th-ranked Duke Burk.

The forfeit gave the Chippewas six points and CMU was able to seal the deal after winning the final two matches.