Mainz’s hopes of holding onto fourth spot were dealt an early blow when Maximilian Arnold broke the deadlock from the best part of 25 yards out with a dipping strike after just three minutes.
But far from wallowing in self-pity, the home side grew into the game perfectly, with Lee Jae-sung stylishly curling home an equaliser at the opposite end of the half.
The game was tipped on its head just before the break as Mainz took the lead, this time through Dominik Kohr, who somehow found a way to bundle home inside the box.
As the game was firmly poised, it made for an end-to-end second half, as both sides went in search of a decisive goal.
Kevin Paredes tried his luck from range and only narrowly missed the target, with the wide-man’s strike whistling just over the crossbar.
But it was at the opposite end where it looked most likely that a second goal would arrive. Nadiem Amiri forced a save from Kamil Grabara between the Wolfsburg sticks, with the goalkeeper on hand to deny substitute Andreas Hanche-Olsen’s header.
The missed chances proved costly for the home side as late in the day Wolfsburg found a leveller.
Much like the hosts’ second, it arrived in scrappy fashion, but Denis Vavro found a way to squeeze the ball home and snatch a point for the visitors. It’s another slip-up for Mainz, whose winless run stretches to five Bundesliga matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Maximilian Arnold (Wolfsburg)