SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Facing off against the nation's top team, the Elmhurst wrestling squad took home second place at the NWCA National Duals after falling to top-ranked Wartburg College in the championship match.

Elmhurst, ranked second in the nation, opened the second-day of the tournament with a 26-19 over Cortland State in the semifinals to advance to the championship final. Elmhurst had its eight-match winning streak snapped in a 24-10 loss to Wartburg in the finals. The Bluejays defeated 30th-ranked Wesleyan University and 10th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on the tournament's first day to reach the semifinal round (read the recap here)

ELMHURST 26, CORTLAND STATE 19 - Lillashawn Coleman made short work of Paul Field at 125 pounds to put the Bluejays on top. Coleman pinned Fields in just 32 seconds to stake Elmhurst to a 6-0 lead. At 133 pounds, Dalton Bullard led Cortland State's Alec Dierna for the entire match and then finished the match with a pin with just four seconds left on the clock in the third period. Bullard's win gave Elmhurst a quick 12-0 lead.

Sixth-ranked Ryan Earley put the Bluejays up 15-0 by doubling up ninth-ranked Brian Bistis 6-3 at 141 pounds. Cortland State got on the board at 149 pounds when third-ranked Boby Dierna toppled Jim Spangler by a 16-8 major decision. Elmhurst's Alex Maynard gave the Bluejays an 18-4 lead when he upset fifth-ranked Troy Sterling 12-6 at 157 pounds.

Cortland closed the gap on Elmhurst by winning the next two matches. Jonathan Conroy edged Yousef Al-Ghoul 6-5 at 165 pounds and Lou Puca pinned Danny Balderas in 2:52 at 174 pounds to cut Elmhurst's lead down to five points at 18-13.

Top-ranked Joe Rau extended the Bluejays' lead to nine points by earning a 15-4 major victory over Justin Signorelli at 184 pounds.

Cortland's Jared Myhrberg rallied to topple Elmhurst's Mike Benefiel at 197 pounds and pull to within three points of the Bluejays. Benefiel led by a point and had a two-minute riding time advantage late in the third period, but Myhrberg scored a takedown with just 17 seconds lefts to send the match into overtime. In the extra period, Myhrberg landed a takedown and pinned Benefiel to cut Elmhurst's dual lead down to 22-19.

Jack Lewis put the dual away for the Bluejays by scoring an 11-3 major decision over Andy Scopino at 285 pounds.

WARTBURG 24, ELMHURST 10 - Elmhurst suffered its first-loss of the season after falling to the defending national champion Knights by 14.

Coleman suffered a 4-1 loss to second-ranked Gilberto Camacho at 125 pounds to open the dual. Camacho scored a late takedown in the third period to earn the win. Wartburg went up 6-0 after top-ranked Kenny Anderson defeated Bullard 3-0 at 133 pounds.

Earley defeated his third-ranked opponent of the weekend by upsetting fourth-ranked Thomas Mirocha 8-5 at 141 pounds. Early used a third-period reversal and near fall to pick up the victory and remain unbeaten on the season.

Second-ranked Kodie Silvestri gave Wartburg an 11-3 lead by scoring an 18-3 technical fall over Elmhurst's Maxx Lozano at 149 pounds. Wartburg's Cole Welter (ranked fourth in the nation) picked up a 12-2 major win over the Bluejays' Maynard at 149 pounds.

Wartburg's top-ranked Landon Williams downed Elmhurst's Nick DiNardo 5-0 at 165 pounds to give the Knights a 20-3 cushion. Balderas narrowly missed an upset of third-ranked Dylan Azinger at 174 pounds, falling by a 6-5 final score.

Rau snapped Wartburg's four-match win streak by earning a 19-6 major decision over seventh-ranked Sam Upah. Benefiel picked up the Bluejays' final win of the day with a 9-0 major decision over sixth-ranked Puna Soriano at 197 pounds. Wartburg's Ryan Frank toppled Lewis 6-0 at 285 pounds to close out the dual.

Elmhurst hosts the Al Hanke Invitational on Saturday (January 19).