The ISU wrestlers left Hilton Coliseum Saturday night after recording their first shutout of the season — a 45-0 thrashing that left the North Carolina State Wolfpack running for the hills.

“What can I say — I’m not one who’s fond of shutting people out,” Cyclone head coach Bobby Douglas said.

“But I’d rather it happened to them and not me.”

The Cyclones won at all 10 weights and scored bonus points aplenty, providing the team with a much-needed boost before next week’s meet against second-ranked Nebraska.

One key element to Saturday’s victory was success on the mat from the Cyclones’ three redshirt freshmen: Kurt Backes and twin brothers Travis and Trent Paulson, Douglas said.

“When our freshmen wrestle well, we usually do a good job,” Douglas said.

“Our freshmen wrestled well tonight.”

One exception to the otherwise unaltered Cyclone lineup was the absence of 133-pounder Nate Gallick.

“He’s all right; he’s just under the weather a little bit,” Douglas said.

Douglas said he was a little disappointed about not being able to start Gallick, but was pleased with the performance of Gallick’s stand-in, Jesse Sundell.

Sundell, who isn’t accustomed to regular-season action, showed great strength and confidence as he got the night’s second pin, this one of the Wolfpack’s Alex Fernandez with 42 seconds left in the first period.

“Whenever you get your chance you have to make the most of it,” Sundell said.

“It’s good to be here in front of the home crowd, and to end up getting a win, especially a pin, that’s even better.”

Since there is so much riding on the upcoming meets for Iowa State, a win like Saturday’s couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We’ve trained well, and we wrestled well,” Douglas said. “We’re getting ready for a big weekend next weekend.”

A win this week over No. 2 Nebraska for the Cyclones would not only be beneficial for the seedings of the following weekend’s Big 12 Tournament, but it would also be Douglas’ 400th career victory.

The fourth-ranked Cyclones go head to head with the second-ranked Cornhuskers at 7 p.m. Thursday in Hilton Coliseum.