By Mike Finn

Nick and Mary Paulson, like most parents of identical twins, didn’t need to read such a scientific journal statement to know what makes their sons — Trent and Travis — unique.                       

Neither did Keith Massey, the former high school and club coach of these 25-year-old native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who first appeared in Massey’s wrestling room at Lewis Central High School when they were nine years old.

            “There were times when I had to take ten seconds off before I beat the crap out of them,” grinned Massey after seeing the twin brothers win their respective freestyle championships at 145.5 and 163 pounds at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 11.

            “They were absolutely the orneriest little guys, who were the most competitive with each other,” Massey added. “After about a year or so I had to step back and think they don’t do these things to disrespect me or to anyone else. They are so competitive against each other that they wouldn’t listen to anybody. They had to beat their brother, which has been a good thing. Their competitiveness has taken them a long way.”

            That road included the championship matches at the U.S. Senior Nationals, where Trent defeated current Iowa All-American Brent Metcalf, 0-1, 3-0, 3-0, at 145.5 pounds and Travis also rallied to beat Pittsburgh’s 2008 NCAA champion Keith Gavin, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0, at 163.

            And with even more continued success at the May 30-31 World Team Trials at the Mid-American Arena in their hometown of Council Bluffs, where both young men will be seeded No. 1 at their weight, the Paulsons will be representing the United States at the FILA World Championships, Sept. 21-29, in Herning, Denmark.

            “It’s been rough,” said Travis of his freestyle trek after completing his Iowa State career in 2007. “I’ve wrestled the toughest guys they could turn out: (Joe) Williams, (Joe) Heskett, (Donnie) Pritzlaff, (Ben) Askren.

            “Watching those films have helped me out. They exposed some of the weaknesses that I had to improve on. With our coaches, I’m training smarter.”

            Fortunately, Travis had his brother Trent, the 2007 NCAA champ from Iowa State, along for the ride.

            This year’s U.S. Senior Nationals titles marked the first time both Paulsons won national championships in the same tournament since they both claimed gold at the Junior Nationals in Fargo following their senior season at Lewis Central High School in 2002.

            “Everything I’ve been going through, he understands,” Travis said. “I don’t even have to say anything. He knows what I’m thinking and is pretty much my rock.”

            For Trent, who gave the Greco-Roman style a shot two years ago, has had his own personal battles along the way, including making the 145.5-pound weight class.

            “The only time there was doubt for me was whether I’d make 145,” said Trent, who won the 157-pound NCAA championship in 2007. “That’s been the biggest challenge for me. I got (my diet) under control now and I think we are doing all the right things.”

            Trent, born 20 minutes earlier than Travis on May 11, 1983, said he would have moved up to 163 pounds if Travis was not competing at that weight.

            “We’ve talked about it,” Trent said. “He’s an inch taller than me and he’s always naturally been about five pounds heavier than me so it made more sense for me to go down.”

            “We were overseas in Russia (competing this past winter) and an hour before weigh-ins, I looked at him and he looked like a skeleton,” recalled Travis.

            “I said, ‘Trent, come up to my weight and we’ll be 1-2 battling it out.’ He made the decision to sacrifice and go down this year and he’s going to stick with it.  We’ll see what happens after the Trials.”

            Massey said both men have made such sacrifices for each other.

            “Travis did it in high school for a couple years,” said Massey, who won two state team championships with the Paulsons in his line-up.

            Nicknamed “TNT”, the Paulsons, who now train in Lincoln, Neb., as members of the Nebraska coaching staff, have been each other’s best friends by learning how to compete against each other.

            “When we are wrestling, it’s probably the most competitive that I am,” Travis said. “I don’t want to give up a takedown and neither does he. He’s the best workout partner that I have. We push each other to the limits and neither one of us is going to give up. We don’t want to lose to each other in conditioning. We don’t want to lose to each other in sprints. We’re just pushing each other every day.”

            Physically, it is hard to tell them apart, except for the fact that Travis has a scar on his forehead and Trent possesses a scar on his cheek.

            “I think his beard is a little more hairy than mine,” said Travis, pointing out they are just as similar inside. “We have the same sense of humor. We like the same movies, we laugh at the same things. But we’re different in that I’m a little more organized.  Trent’s been know to be a little more crazy.”

            On the mat, they have very similar styles. They both stay in great position and are hard to score on. Trent scored his deciding takedown against Metcalf in the third period when the Hawkeye failed on a takedown attack.

            “Everyone says you have to score early against Metcalf because he has a gas tank. I’ve been training hard and feel that I’m in just as good as shape,” said Trent, who lost the first period when he gave up a takedown with one second left. “I was not shook up when I lost the first period. After that, I decided it was time to step up and keep wrestling hard.”

            Travis, meanwhile, also did not score a takedown until the final period. He used his defense against Gavin’s clinch advantage after a scoreless second period, and sent the match to a third period. The bout ended with Travis holding off a Gavin takedown attempt for the win.

            “A national championship was on the line,” said Travis on breaking Gavin’s clinch lock in the second period. “When he grabbed my leg, I was thinking, ‘I’ve worked too hard for this. I’m not going to lose two straight clinches.

            “I’m not going to make it to the finals and not score a point. I just gave it everything that I had. Gavin’s a great wrestler. He’s really tough and hard to go with.”

            The Paulsons’ style is hard to understand for most people, including their former prep coach.

            “If I had the answer to that, I’d probably be buying this building as opposed to participating in it or I’d have the key to everything,” Massey said. “It’s the psychology of sports, of being confident in what you can do and just going out and doing it.”

            It’s also these twins’ method of success.