Josh Wooton was scoring at will, but he was tired of hearing Coach Dave Grant yell for a pin.

So on Senior Day, the 141-pound Wooton pinned his opponent in his final home dual meet Sunday to help the Huskies split the weekend with a 27-9 victory over North Dakota State.

The Huskies (7-5-2 overall, 2-1-1 MAC) began the weekend with a dismal 33-2 road loss to No. 5-ranked Central Michigan (11-4, 3-0) Friday. Wooton was the only Huskie to emerge with a victory, placing him third in NIU history with his 100th career win.

With a boisterous crowd of 968 behind them, the Chippewas swept the first nine matches, including three major decisions and a pin. Until Wooton’s 4-3 decision over Brandon Carter, the Huskies were limited to -1 points after Derek Hunsinger received a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Fatigue from the long road trip caught up with NIU early in Sunday’s home match against NDS (6-3). A Bison pin at 184 pounds and decision at 197 pounds put the Huskies in a 9-0 hole.

Those would be the last points the Bisons would score for the remainder of the match. The Huskies won the final eight matches, highlighted by Wooton’s dominating performance that broke a 9-9 tie.

Wooton and fellow senior Alex Nelson were both recognized for their commitment to NIU as seniors in their final home dual meet. The Ohio-native then dazzled the crowd with one of his most dominating performances of the season, using relentless lightning-quick attacks to build an 11-3 lead in the first period alone. Wooton then registered the pin 2:49 into the match.

“It feels real good,” Wooton said. “I wanted to take the guy down a few more times, but I wanted [coach Grant] to stop yelling ‘pin him.’ I wanted to show the crowd some flips and leg cradles as my last hurrah. It feels pretty good to keep the win streak going.”

Afterward, Grant had nothing but praise for his team’s co-captain and two-time national qualifier.

“It was nice for Wooton to end in his last home dual meet with a pin,” Grant said. “He really wanted to go out the right way. He’s had an outstanding career here at NIU. He’s always been the guy we can really count on.”

Junior Mike Grimes kept up his end of NIU’s 1-2 punch with a 10-3 victory at 149 pounds, but was denied the major decision because of a controversial late stalling penalty. Grimes and Wooton are ranked No. 12 and 11 in the country in their weight classes, respectively.

Sophomore Aaron Owen also picked up an 8-2 victory at 157 pounds, marking the first time the Huskies have won a dual match at 157 pounds since Dec. 18. Decision victories by juniors Johnny Galloway and Danny Burk finished the scoring at 27-9.

“Coming off the meet with Central Michigan, we wanted to redeem ourselves with high intensity,” Grimes said. “It doesn’t [take away the sting of the CMU loss]. We know we didn’t wrestle our best. We need to be more hungry. In practice, Coach Grant is going to put us through some crazy workouts.”