The Chippewas improved to 12-2 overall, 4-0 in the MAC with their seventh straight win and 70th victory in their last 73 conference duals. Northern Illinois dropped to 6-6 overall, 0-3 in the MAC.
The win sets up an opportunity for CMU to clinch an outright MAC title next Sunday when the Chippewas close out their conference dual schedule at Kent State.
"I thought we were really competitive in every match tonight," said CMU head coach Tom Borrelli. "Even the matches we lost were competitive matches, so I was happy with that. It takes a lot to beat us, which is a good starting point.
"We certainly need to work on a lot of things," Borrelli added. "It's hard to change things that you had a lot of success with at a younger level, because you tend to go back to those things when you're in the heat of the battle. We need to be more focused and better at executing in the heat of the battle."
CMU led Friday's dual from start to finish, with sophomore Joe Roth and redshirt freshman Tyler Keselring staking the hosts to an early 8-0 lead with major decisions at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively. Roth scored eight takedowns in a 17-8 victory over Nick Smith, while Keselring's 12-1 major decision avenged a 7-4 loss to Robert Jillard from earlier this season.
After Kevin Fanta's 7-2 decision over Scott Mattingly at 141 pounds cut the CMU lead to 8-3, the Chippewas posted wins in four of the next five bouts to secure the victory. Craig Kelliher used a late takedown to defeat Caleb Busson, 4-3, at 174 pounds, while Ben Bennett improved to 20-2 overall with a 14-4 major decision over Shane Rosenberry at 184 pounds.
Peter Sturgeon capped the victory with a 2-1 tiebreaker victory over Jared Torrence at heavyweight. Sturgeon scored an escape in the first 30-second tiebreaker period, then rode out Torrence in the second period to improve to 3-0 in overtime this season.
CMU is back in action Sunday, visiting No. 10 Michigan for a nonconference dual meet. Wrestling begins at 2 p.m.
No. 19 Central Michigan 24, Northern Illinois 9
125: No. 16 Joe Roth (CMU) maj. dec. Nick Smith, 17-8; CMU 4-0
133: Tyler Keselring (CMU) maj. dec. Rob Jillard, 12-1; CMU 8-0
141: Kevin Fanta (NIU) dec. Scott Mattingly, 7-2; CMU 8-3
149: Joey Kielbasa (CMU) dec. Tyler Argue, 5-2; CMU 11-3
157: Donnie Corby (CMU) dec. Tyler Loethen, 2-1; CMU 14-3
165: Matt Mougin (NIU) dec. Dakota Cooley, 4-3; CMU 14-6
174: Craig Kelliher (CMU) dec. Caleb Busson, 4-3; CMU 17-6
184: No. 5 Ben Bennett (CMU) maj. dec. Shane Rosenberry, 14-4; CMU 21-6
197: Mike Lukowski (NIU) dec. Chad Friend, 6-4; CMU 21-9
285: No. 13 Peter Sturgeon (CMU) dec. Jared Torrence, 2-1 TB1; CMU 24-9
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