Paulson, Varner ready to take on the world

Iowa State national champ Jake Varner and former Cyclone national champ Trent Paulson will travel to Herning, Denmark, to compete in the World Wrestling Championships on Sept. 21-23. The entire United States freestyle team departs today,

Varner, the 2009 197-pound NCAA champion and a three-time NCAA finalist, will compete at 96 kilograms (211.5 pounds). He won the World Team Trials by defeating Andy Hrovat in two straight matches of a best-of-3 series in Council Bluffs on June 1. He beat Hrovat, a former Olympian, 0-1, 3-0, 1-0 and 0-1, 2-0, 1-0, avenging a loss in the 2008 Olympic Team Trials.

Listen to after competing in the World Team Trials at Council Bluffs.

 Varner is prepared to take on anyone in his first international competition on the senior level.

"I don't care who I wrestle or what they've done," Varner said in a news release. "I care about what I'm going to bring to the table."

Varner has benefitted from  training with two accomplished international wrestlers. He wrestled his first three years for former ISU coach and four-time national champ and Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson. He then wotked with Olympic and World champion Kevin Jackson, who took over for Sanderson in May, when he left Ames for Penn State University to replace Troy Sunderland, who resigned as the Nittany Lions' head coach.

"Kevin Jackson and Cael Sanderson have accomplished everything that you can do," Varner said. "I've been wrestling with those guys a lot. They've  given me the feel that I really need to be ready."

Paulson claimed the 66 kg spot (145.5 pounds) after winning the World Team Trials in his hometown of Council Bluffs. The three-time All-American for the Cyclones also won the U.S. Senior National tournament at Las Vegas in April.  Paulson, and his twin brother, Travis, have returned to Ames to train, helping Iowa State fortify itself as a regional Olympic Training Center.

Varner, a Bakersfield, Calif., native who won the U.S. Senior National tournament by shutting out the field, said he knows he will face a style unlike the ones he faces in this country or in folkstyle. He's ready for the challenge.

"They do wrestle differently in other places," Varner said. "Their style appears a lot more relaxed but when they attack, they really attack. But they've never wrestled me. I guess in a way that can give me an advantage but I'm just going to go out there and wrestle my match. I'm going to try and dominate those guys."