It was a very good year.
Trent Paulson came from behind to win the NCAA 157-pound championship as Iowa State finished second to Minnesota at the NCAA Division I Wrestling
Championships in The Palace at Auburn Hills. In a year in which the Gophers were
expected to win the national team title handily, the final outcome was not
decided until American’s Josh Glenn defeated ISU’s Kurt Backes in sudden victory
overtime at 197 pounds.
Minnesota got a pin from heavyweight Cole Konrad in the final match of the
night, which would have given his team the title even if all three Cyclone
finalists had won their matches without bonus points. But Iowa State’s run for
the first-place trophy impressed all who saw it and that impression was affirmed
when Sanderson was named the National Coach of the Year.
At the end of
the day Minnesota posted a winning total of 98 points. Iowa State was second
with 88.5 points, followed by Missouri (80), Northwestern (71.5) and Oklahoma State (69).
“We had a great tournament,” Sanderson said. “I want to hand
it to our entire team. We wrestled well. The seniors can go out with their heads
high. Trent and Travis Paulson really bought into what we were doing this year
and that isn’t always easy when you are in your fifth year someplace. The same
goes for Kurt Backes. Iowa State is going to be right there from now on. There
is no doubt that everybody knows it. I also want to give our congratulations to
Minnesota’s coaches and wrestlers. They won the prize and they earned
it.”
Top-seeded Trent Paulson capped off his Iowa State wrestling career
on the big stage by capturing the 157-pound championship with a thrilling 6-5
victory over seventh-seeded Craig Henning of Wisconsin. Hailing from Council
Bluffs, Iowa, Paulson finishes as one of only of 33 Cyclone wrestlers to win
100-career matches, with a four-year mark of 115-20. His career-win total ties
him for 18th on the all-time ISU list, tied with Dave Powell (1976-79). Paulson
matched his best single-season win record, with a 29-4 mark that matched record
he earned as a sophomore. He closed out his season winning 15 consecutive
matches, a feat he also accomplished as a sophomore.
Henning struck first
with a takedown midway through the first period to go up 2-0 on a scramble
started by a Paulson shot. Paulson registered his first point at the 1:03 mark
with an escape. Henning answered with an escape of his own to start the second
period, taking a 3-1 advantage through the entire period. The match was far from
over.
Starting the final two minutes from the down position, Paulson
narrowed the lead to a single point with an immediate escape and took a 4-3 lead
with a takedown. He then cut Henning loose, evening the score at 4-4, in a bid
to get the winning move. It was a fortuitous decision. Shooting low with only 15
seconds remaining on the clock, Paulson grabbed a hold of Henning’s leg to
clinch the title with a takedown.
“It’s a dream come true,” Paulson said.
“I’ve been imagining this moment since I got to Iowa State and to actually feel
it is unbelievable. I shot a single leg and as the scramble went on it kind of
turned into a high crotch situation. I thought he could scramble really well
from there and felt he was getting the angle so I tried to get a little lower so
he couldn’t scramble as well and get my hips back. I wanted to wrestle on my
feet and score my points there, especially after getting down right away. I
didn’t want it to come down to riding time and give him a chance to get into the
last seconds. I wanted to leave it up to my performance on my
feet.”
Varner, seeded sixth, finished as the 184-pound runner-up,
suffering a 6-1 loss to top-seeded Jake Herbert. The freshman was unable to
muster much offense against the undefeated Wildcat. Varner is the first freshman
to earn All-American honors and wrestle in a championship match since Cael
Sanderson in 1999. He concludes his rookie season with a record of
29-7.
Backes, who came into the tournament as the ninth seed, finished
his ISU wrestling career as the 197-pound runner-up. Backes battled back from an
early 3-1 deficit, to tie the match at 3-3 with a takedown in the closing
seconds of the second period. He took a 4-3 lead with an escape at the 1:22
mark, but Glenn’s riding time evened the match at 4-4, pushing it into sudden
victory. Glenn emerged as the aggressor in the first 12 seconds of sudden
victory with a low, double-leg takedown on the edge of the mat for the
win.
Backes finishes as one of 33 Cyclones with 100-career victories,
recording a four-year record of 109-31 and going 28-7 in his senior campaign
after moving up from 184 pounds a year ago. He was twice an All-American after
earning seventh-place honors as freshman.
Iowa State athletics director
Jamie Pollard witnessed the finals after flying from Minneapolis, Minn. where
the Iowa State women’s basketball team defeated Washington in the early
afternoon.
“I don’t think there is any doubt about Cael Sanderson being
the coach of the year. He is the best coach in the country and with our
returning lineup the future is very bright.”
Very bright indeed.