Gallick a Finalist and Paulsons Become Two-Time All-Americans at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Oklahoma City, Okla. - Top-seeded Nate Gallick defeated Michigan State All-American Andy Simmons, 4-2, in their semifinal match and Trent and Travis Paulson became All-Americans for the second time in their careers at the 76th NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City Friday evening at the Ford Center. Gallick, undefeated at 34-0, will face his conference rival Teyon Ware from Oklahoma in Saturday's 141-pound finals. Oklahoma State widened their lead over runner-up Minnesota (72.5) with 106 points as Iowa State moved up to 14th place with 41 points.

"I am proud of how our guys fought back," said Iowa State head coach Bobby Douglas. "This is an unforgiving round. There are a lot of guys who leave tonight heartbroken. To see Travis and Trent work their way back through the consolations and feed off of each other is a great thing. Nate came right out tonight and did what he had to do. He has one match left in his career and he knows what he has to do."

Gallick struck early in the first period for a quick takedown about a minute into the first period. Simmons deferred to begin the second period and Gallick chose down. The Spartan couldn't hold Gallick down as the three-time All-American escaped to take a 3-1 advantage. Both were tagged for a double stall warning as the second period expired. Simmons was down to begin the third-period and escaped to close the lead to 3-2. Simmons and Gallick went into a wild scramble but no points were exchanged shortly after the Simmons escape. Gallick accumulated 1:52 of riding time to win the match 4-2 and will meet Oklahoma's two-time national champion Teyon Ware in the 141-pound finals. Gallick has beaten Ware twice officially this season and defeated the Sooner at the NWCA All-Star Classic in Stillwater. Gallick has seven career wins against Ware in eight attempts. Gallick wanted an early takedown against Simmons.

"I knew if I could get an early takdown it would force him to wrestle a different match," the three-time All-American said. "Getting riding time forced him out of his gameplan even more." Gallick is preparing for a rematch of the 2005 national finals against Ware. "I'm not looking to do anything different," Gallick said. "He is a great wrestler and the past doesn't mean much. Every time I wrestle him, there's no easy train of thought. He's a tough competitor. No matter how many times I beat him, he's a threat."

Trent Paulson was taken down one minute into the first period by Oregon State's unseeded Tony Hook who denied No. 2 seed C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota All-American status in the wrestlebacks. Paulson escaped and tied the match with a second-period escape and added a takedown to take a 4-2 lead on Hook. Paulson gave up a reversal with 20 seconds remaining in the third period but came from behind with a five-point move in the waning seconds to defeat Hook 10-6.

The two-time 157-pound All-American was then set for a 2005 NCAA consolation rematch with Indiana's All-American Brandon Becker at 157 pounds. Becker, just a sophomore, scored the first points with a takedown but Paulson countered with an escape and takedown of his own to take a 3-2 lead. Paulson and Becker went into a scramble and the Cyclone two-time All-American added a two-point near fall and took a 5-3 lead heading into the third session. Paulson escaped to begin the third period for a 6-3 advantage and held on to advance further in the wrestlebacks and will face Derek Zinck of Lehigh who fell in the quarterfinals to Arizona State's finalist Brian Stith.

"It is a heck of a lot better to go for third than finish eighth," Trent Paulson said. "A lot of the motivation is pride. I have fed off the success of my brother. He has been an inspiration to me and the perfect workout partner."

Travis Paulson rematched against Missouri's Matt Pell for the third-time this season looking for revenge. After a scoreless first period, Pell escaped in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Paulson pulled a reversal on Pell in the third period to take a 2-1 lead and Pell escaped to equalize the match. Paulson scored a takedown with six seconds remaining to avenge two losses to the Tiger and win, 4-2.

Travis followed his brother's act as he went on to face Iowa's All-American Eric Luedke at 165 pounds. Paulson scored a takedown and two-point nearfall to open his match against the Hawkeye. Adding an escape to begin the second period, Luedke tried to rally and scored a takedown but Paulson scored one of his own off the edge of the mat with a minute to go and took the match 8-3. Travis faces American's Muzaffar Abdurkhamanov tomorrow in the wrestlebacks.

Seventh-seeded Kurt Backes reacquainted himself with Penn State All-American and No. 5 seed Eric Bradley in the 184-pound consolations. Bradley scored two first-period takedowns and Backes escaped twice and once to start the second period to make the score 4-3. Bradley would add another takedown from the neutral position in the third period and Backes tied it up with takedown of his own as the third-period wound down but a technical violation for locked hands on Backes resulted in one point for Bradley to give the Nittany Lion a 7-6 victory.

The fifth session begins tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

Semifinal Result
141 - No. 1 Nate Gallick (Iowa State) dec. No. 4 Andy Simmons (Michigan State), 4-2
Consolation Results
157 - No. 1 Trent Paulson (Iowa State) dec. Tony Hook (Oregon State), 10-6
165 - No. 8 Travis Paulson (Iowa State) dec. No. 5 Matt Pell (Missouri), 4-2
184 - No. 8 Eric Bradley (Penn State) dec. No. 7 Kurt Backes (Iowa State), 7-6.
157 - No. 1 Trent Paulson (Iowa State) dec. Brandon Becker (Indiana), 6-3
165 - No. 8 Travis Paulson (Iowa State) dec. Eric Luedke (Iowa), 8-3
Consolation Matchups
157 - No. 1 Trent Paulson (Iowa State) vs. Derek Zinck (Lehigh)
165 - No. 8 Travis Paulson (Iowa State) vs. Muzaffar Abdurkhamonov (American)

Team Scoring
Oklahoma State - 106
Minnesota - 72.5
Oklahoma - 64.5
Iowa - 61.5
Arizona State - 56
Cornell - 54
Penn State - 53.5
Michigan - 52
Hofstra - 47
Lehigh - 46

Gallick a Finalist and Paulsons Become Two-Time All-Americans at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Players Mentioned

Kurt Backes

Travis Paulson

Trent Paulson

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Gallick a Finalist and Paulsons Become Two-Time All-Americans at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Players Mentioned

Kurt Backes

Travis Paulson

Trent Paulson

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