Don't know about the wilting and dying off part, but the japanese beetles around here seem to love the plant.

I finally got a decent rhubarb plant going this year after 2 failed attempts. Previously, the plant developed some reddening of the leaves and the crowns ended up rotting away.

With this new plant, I noticed some stalks were dying off. They were quickly replaced with new ones, so no worries about that. As long as new stalks are appearing, I would think that your plant is fine.

As for the holes in the leaves, I would suspect slugs. Have a look around and see if you find any. I've been using Safer's Slug & Snail Killer and it works like a charm. Beer traps if you're strictly organic.

I would have used beer traps myself, but I was afraid to find my neighbors skulking around the yard with straws in hand.

Sounds like you need to contact your extension agent. They are almost weeds in Michigan and Colorado. Yes they do seem to get bug hole in the leaves but it doesn't seem to bother the stems. Never heard of them rotting and they seem to live over 10 years. I have even started them from seed and eaten the next summer in Colorado. Good Luck