Corey Cabanban has sat behind Alex Mackall on the depth chart at 125 pounds all year.

The redshirt freshman went 3-2 at the Southern Scuffle and finished in fourth place in the open division at the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open.

Cabanban made his Hilton Coliseum debut Saturday night and got Iowa State on the right foot.

The native of Aiea, Hawaii, won his first ever dual match 9-5 over Joey Thomas as the No. 19 Cyclones won the opening four bouts and eight out of 10 to triumph over West Virginia 34-6.

It’s the first time a Hawaiian started in a dual since Dane Pestano two years ago.

“First time you get to wrestle in Hilton is a little intimidating, so I’m sure the butterflies were bigger than him,” Head Coach Kevin Dresser said.

After opening the night with a takedown, Cabanban and Thomas were tied at two. In the winding seconds of the second period, Cabanban put him on his back for a four-point swing.

Another escape and takedown was added before Thomas countered with that same sequence before the buzzer sounded.

Mackall will likely head back to the mat against Northern Iowa. Dresser said he sat him out due to sickness he got late in the week.

“He could have went,” Dresser said. “You can’t avoid sickness. We held our cards here a little bit.”

After that, it was business as usual for Iowa State (8-4, 5-1 Big 12).

The Cyclones held a 30-5 advantage over the Mountaineers in takedowns. On paper and on the mat, it was a complete mismatch.

Todd Small (133) and Ian Parker (141) recorded consecutive major decision victories, both nabbing takedowns in the third period to add to an eventual riding time point.

Jarrett Degen went to work early at 149, earning the first of his three takedowns in the opening three minutes and putting Liam Lusher on his back twice for back-to-back tilts before recording the pin at 4 minutes, 19 seconds.

It’s the second pin the redshirt junior has gotten since returning from a shoulder injury.

After the intermission, Chase Straw used a second period takedown that proved to be the difference in his 4-1 victory over Nick Kiussis. The win might be enough to vault the redshirt senior into the third coaches’ panel rankings as he defeated the 27th ranked grappler.

Two more bonus point victories came Iowa State’s way at 174 and 184.

Sam Colbray put together six takedowns in the most dominating win he’s had since descending down a weight, man-handling Scott Joll 18-7. The Hilton crowd wasted little time to erupt once again.

Marcus Coleman put Jackson Moomau in a cradle and locked up the pin in 0:24.

“I watched it on the re run, so it looked pretty good,” Dresser said of the Ames native’s victory.

West Virginia (3-11, 0-6) took wins at 157 and 197.

Trailing 4-2 to begin the third, Alex Hornfeck got Grant Stotts called for stalling and rode him out for the entire third period to pick up the needed point to send it to sudden victory. Less than 15 seconds into the overtime period, Hornfreck got the match-ending takedown to win 6-4.

Second-ranked Noah Adams was taken down by Joel Shapiro in the opening period, but rattled off six straight to avoid the upset and win 6-2.

“Stotts, he’s gotta learn how to close out matches. At the Division I level, wrestling five minutes will get you beat nine out of 10 times,” Dresser said. “That guy [Adams] is a man and [Shapiro’s] not quite a man yet. That’s really what the difference was, that physicality.”

Gannon Gremmel ended the night with the sixth bonus point victory, a 12-1 major decision win over Sean Mullican. 

Iowa State will turn around and face No. 16 Northern Iowa that has won six consecutive duals. That is slated to start at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

“We need, as a team, to do the little things that you got to do between a night match – just like it would be at the Big 12s and the NCAAs Tournament – and a match the next day,” Dresser said. “How we rest, to how we get ready for our weigh in, to how we warm up, to how we eat and then to how we compete.”