Student turns tables on former teacher in wrestling tourney

The student defeated the teacher Friday as Jordan Burroughs bested Trent Paulson in the freestyle competition at 185 pounds at the Dave Schultz Memorial International.

In 2009, when Burroughs was just a sophomore at Nebraska, Paulson came to Lincoln, Neb., to train with and help coach him. Both were rewarded when Burroughs won the NCAA championship, a feat he would repeat in 2011.

“Trent coached me at one point so it kind of has that big brother effect on me,” Burroughs said after the match at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. “I know he’s tough, I know what he’s got and he knows what I have.”

Burroughs escaped trouble twice in the first period. He evaded a push out early and then, in the clinch, reversed an attempted gut-wrench by Paulson to take the round 1-0. Burroughs took the second round 6-0.

Paulson, who won an NCAA championship in 2007 when he was a senior at Iowa State, helped convince Burroughs to step up in weight class.

“I was trying to get him ready to win a national title – I knew he could,” Pulsing said. “He was thinking about wrestling at (149) and I told him, ‘no, get bigger, get stronger.’ He went up to (157) and dominated the weight class.

“I was really happy that I was able to be a part of that.”

The two will meet again at the U.S. Olympic Trials on April 21-22 at Iowa City. Both are hoping to represent the USA at the London Olympics.

True to its name, the Schultz International featured athletes from 16 nations.

Despite the strong international presence, 10 of the 14 wrestlers who advanced to Friday’s finals were from the United States, including two (Chase Pami at 145.5 and Dustin Kilgore at 211.5) who reside at the OTC.

Including Burroughs, four Americans took gold. Coleman Scott took the title at 132 with a win over Rahul Bala Aware of India. Raymond Jordan beat fellow American Phil Keddy at 185, and Dom Bradley beat Jarod Trice, also both Americans, at 264.5.

The 2010 world champion at 145.5, Sushil Kumar of India, took the gold at that same weight with a win over Pami. His countryman, Amit Kumar, won at 121, defeating American Brandon Precin. Russia’s Shamil Akhmedov took the 211.5 division with a win over Kilgore.

Earl Hall, a 19-year-old from New York, qualified to compete at the Olympic trials by taking fourth in the 121 division. Others who qualified Friday were Justin Perch at 132, Todd Meneely at 145.5 and Deron Winn at 185. All four are OTC residents.

The other American finalists had already qualified.

“Any time you’re shoving a lot of Americans in the finals of any international competition, you’re pleased,” U.S. coach Zeke Jones said. “However, until you come home with the (Olympic) gold medals, you’re not. We’ve got some things we’ve got to work on.”