By J.R. Ogden, Special to W.I.N.

Trent Paulson sat in a silent interview room watching his twin brother, Travis, wrestle in a 165-pound semifinal loss against Oklahoma State’s Johny Hendricks.

He made few comments during the match, then yelled at the TV and was quite upset when Hendricks won the tight battle.

This tells you something about Trent Paulson, coming off a 4-0 win over Illinois’ Mike Poeta in a semifinal match that put Trent in the finals of the NCAA Division I Championships for the first time.

Paulson, who went on to win his first national title, cared more about his twin than his win.

“It’s just devastating,’’ he said after Travis’ loss. “I’d rather see my brother make it to the finals than me. He pushes me more than I push him.’’

Travis, very likely, would had been saying the same had the situation been reversed. The bottom line is the Paulson brothers from Council Bluffs, Iowa, pushed each other to six all-American finishes.

Travis capped his senior season with a fifth-place finish after a pair of sixths. Trent climbed higher on the ladder, winning the 157-pound title after two fourth-place finishes.

“It’s a dream come true,’’ Paulson said after his 6-5 win over Wisconsin’s Craig Henning. “I’ve been imagining this moment since I got to Iowa State and to actually feel it, it’s unbelievable.’’

Paulson, who ended his career at 115-20 after a 29-4 senior season, was trailing, 3-1, heading into the third period of the title tilt when he scored an escape and then a takedown with 1:23 left to pull ahead, 4-3.

He let Henning go with 1:10 left, then scored the winning takedown on a quick, explosive move with 15 ticks remaining.

“I shot a single leg and as the scramble went on it kind of turned into a high-crotch situation,’’ he said. “I felt that 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.’’

Knowing Henning was good on the mat, Paulson wanted to wrestle the Badger on his feet.

“I was kind of taking steps back, trying to lure him in,’’ he said. “I felt like I was chasing him before that.

“I didn’t want it to come down to riding time or give him a chance to get in the last second and lose that way. I wanted to leave it up to my performance on my feet.’’

Trent still had Travis on his mind after the title, saying he was proud of the way his brother won his final match.

‘It’s basically been a roller coaster, up and down,’’ he said of the time between the semifinal loss and his championship win. “I made it to the finals and I see Travis lose and I just kind of crashed.’’

Paulson followed Iowa State coach Cael Sanderson’s “keep it simple” philosophy throughout his senior season. Sanderson sent each wrestler words of inspiration and Travis printed them out and carried them in his bag.

Trent borrowed his favorite: “The abilities you have are God’s gift to you. How you use those abilities is your gift to Him.’’

“That one kind of sticks with me,’’ he said before the tournament.

Trent credited the new coaching staff at ISU — Cael Sanderson, Cody Sanderson and Tim Hartung — with making him a better wrestler this year.

“I felt a lot of pressure (in 2006) and it made me wrestle not to lose,’’ he said of being seeded No. 1 as a junior. “They’re telling us not to worry about winning and losing. That’s helped me score a lot of points this year.’’

Sanderson said Trent “made a ton of progress,” mainly with his attitude.

“He’s a little stronger, a little tougher,” Sanderson said.

Trent Paulson proved that on championship night.

(J.R. Ogden is the sports editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette.)

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