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HERNING, Denmark — Trent Paulson was 20 seconds away from one of the biggest wins of his career.
Paulson had the lead in the closing seconds of his World Championships freestyle match with Kazakhstan's Leonid Spiridonov, a top-five finisher in the past two Olympic Games.
But Paulson, a Council Bluffs native, couldn't quite finish it off on Monday before a crowd of 3,500 fans at the MesseCenter Herning.
Spiridonov shot in on Paulson's legs late in the third period at 145.5 pounds. Paulson sprawled to counter, but Spiridonov ended up driving him to the edge of the mat to score a one-point pushout to win the first-round match.
Spiridonov won the match 1-1, 3-0, 2-1
“I had the lead, and I pretty much gave him the match,” Paulson said. “It was a mental error on my part. I needed to get my hands down and not let him get in on my legs. I made a mistake and he capitalized on it.”
Under the tournament format, Paulson needed Spiridonov to reach the finals to have a chance to make the finals. But Spiridonov fell to Iran's Kermani Taghavi in the quarterfinals, knocking Paulson out of the tournament. Taghavi went on to win the world title and Spiridonov won a bronze medal.
“Inexperience got to us today,” U.S. national coach Zeke Jones said. “All the matches we lost were all very winnable. I think experience caught up to us overall. Trent was in a bout with a guy who has twice wrestled for an Olympic medal. That guy had a lot of experience and it showed.”
Paulson had to sit in the stands after his loss, waiting to see if Spiridonov would reach the finals.
“It was pretty frustrating to have to sit there and watch, especially when you come here with a goal of winning this,” said Paulson, an NCAA champion for Iowa State. “We had great training camps and our coaches did a great job of preparing us. They had us peaking at the right time. I know what to expect now and what wrestling in this atmosphere is like. It will help me for sure. I've always known I'm right there with the best guys. I just need to get it done next time.”
Paulson credited his twin brother, Travis, for helping him prepare for this event. Travis just missed out on making the U.S. World Team, placing second at 163 pounds at May's World Championships in Council Bluffs.
“Travis went above and beyond to help me,” Trent said. “He's been there for me the entire time. He studied video of my opponents and did so much to help me. We both want to come back and wrestle in this next year.”
Jake Varner, the reigning NCAA champion at 197 pounds, won his first two matches before falling to Iran's Saeid Abrahami 1-0, 1-0 in the quarterfinals at 211.5 pounds. Varner, who will be a senior at Iowa State, was eliminated when Abrahami lost to Olympic and World champion Khadshimourad Gatsalov of Russia in the semifinals. Abrahami won a World silver medal in 2007.
It was Varner's first appearance at the World Championships.
“Against the Iranian, I went for a takedown late in the first period with a foot sweep, and I got caught off balance and he got the takedown,” Varner said. “Second period, I gave up the one takedown and that was the match. This tournament was a great experience for me. I learned a lot and it was fun. I know I need to score more points.”
Tervel Dlagnev, a two-time NCAA Division II champion for the University of Nebraska at Kearney, is scheduled to compete today at 264.5 pounds. Dlagnev made his first World Team this year.
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