Wrestler Duke Burk couldn’t stop from being pessimistic.

Since placing fifth at last Saturday’s Big 12 Tournament, Burk waited and worried that he wouldn’t get an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Wednesday after practice, he got the news he was hoping for.

Burk will join the nine other members of the ISU wrestling team in St. Louis, Mo. for the three-day national tournament, which begins next Thursday.

“My family was a little happier than me,” Burk said. “Well, I was excited. It gets the nerves away, but that doesn’t really get any further than where we started.”

Iowa State is the only Div. I team to send its entire lineup to nationals. Iowa, Cornell, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Boise State and Illinois each qualified nine wrestlers.

Burk (17-7) reached the NCAA Tournament in his two seasons at Northern Illinois. Since transferring to Iowa State, the junior 174-pounder has struggled with injuries and missed four weeks of competition.

Last weekend he exited the conference tournament after two close losses — a 6-5 decision to Oklahoma’s Jeff James and a 6-4 overtime loss to Oklahoma State’s Newly McSpadden.

Burk said his first loss stuck in his mind all weekend. He gave up two takedowns to James in the first period, and his late comeback fell short.

“That was probably the worst period I’ve had all year, and that was one of the biggest matches I’ve had all year,” Burk said. “So me just not taking care of myself made me freak out about it more.”

The top-three place winners at the weight received automatic entries to the NCAA Tournament. Six of the 52 at-large qualifiers went to the 174-pound weight class.

Before practice on Wednesday, Burk had prepared himself in case he had to stay home, saying “I left it in someone else’s hands, so I can’t complain if I didn’t get it.”

Burk’s brother and assistant coach Casey Cunningham had each researched the other potential at-large qualifiers, concluding that Burk should be the second wrestler at that weight class to get in. Burk said it didn’t stop him from worrying, though it took some doubt of the mind of head coach Cael Sanderson.

“Knowing that, it definitely made me feel a little bit better,” Sanderson said. “But you never know.”

Sanderson said Burk has been wrestling “better and better” since returning from a shoulder injury in mid-January.

“We’re definitely glad to take him along, and that gives us 10 guys, 10 guys that can score some points at nationals, 10 guys whose goal is at least to be an All-American,” Sanderson said. “That’s a good thing.”

Burk expects to face a seeded wrestler in the opening round.

“I won both times, so seeded guys don’t really scare me, you know what I mean… with the guys I wrestle with in practice, I really shouldn’t be scared,” he said.

Burk was one win away from placing at nationals last year. In 2007 his brother, Danny, wrestled at 174 pounds, so Duke was bumped up to the 184 class. After winning his first-round match, he was paired with current-teammate Jake Varner, who beat him 6-0.

“I couldn’t do anything,” Duke said. “I was way too small.”