By Mike Finn, WIN

It was almost a perfect ending for Trent Paulson when he defeated Jared Frayer for the 145.5-pound World Team berth, May 31.

            By virtue of breaking the leg clinch lock of Frayer in overtime of their second meeting in the Championship Series, Trent sent himself to Denmark and the FILA Worlds this September. The native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, also did it before hundreds of hometown fans, adorned in beige Paulson Power T-shirts, who made their voices heard in the Mid-America Center.

            But Trent was not truly happy.

            “It’s bittersweet, big time,” said the 26-year-old freestyler. “I want to be on the World team, but don’t want to be on it without my brother.”

               Trent was referring to the fate of his twin brother, Travis, who lost the night before in the 163-pound weight class to Dustin Schlatter, who benefited from having his ball color pulled for an offensive advantage in the leg clinch in all four periods.

            Ironically, Trent’s ability to defend the clinch in the second period of the second bout led to the victory.

            “It’s real tough to get your leg back,” said Trent. “I was hoping that he would cut across for the ankle so that I could break the lock and I was able to do that. It’s worked out for me.”

            Things also worked out for him in the first match, when he first had the leg clinch in the second period but gave up three points when Frayer scored on a defensive lift of Trent. In the third period, nearly the same thing happened when Frayer scored two points on a defensive lift with ten seconds left, but Trent scored a two-point reversal seconds later and prevailed by scoring last.

            It was a memorable match, but Trent would rather forget what else happened.

            “Any time we don’t do it together, it kind of takes away from the victory because we train so hard and we do all the same things,” said Trent, who saw a familiar moment during the 2007 NCAAs when he won the 157-pound title and Travis settled for fifth at 165 pounds.

            “For one to accomplish it and not the other seems almost unfair to us. That’s why it was hard for me to get going today. I pretty much dug deep for my brother.”

            The past two years have been tough for the entire Paulson family since Trent captured the national college championship for Iowa State. One week later, they learned that their father, Nick, was diagnosed with cancer. That was a big reason the twins chose to assist with the Nebraska program and train in Lincoln, Neb.

            “That was a big part of it,” Trent said. “To be 50 minutes away from him, as opposed to two hours, was a big difference in being able to come back and see him and get to the mats on a regular basis.”

            According to the Paulsons’ former high school coach, Keith Massey, their father is responding well with his treatments at the Mayo Clinic.

            “He’s dealing with it and he’s doing great,” Massey said. “I’m sure this makes it a lot better.”

            Winning world gold in Denmark will make it even better for Trent, who will not be alone.

            “It was tough for me to get going today,” Trent said after his victory. “The best thing I could do today to lift his spirits was to make the World Team and take him as my training partner.”

            Paulson Power will continue together with plenty of family motivation fueling the fire.