The pursuit of the Olympic dream has taken Trent and Travis Paulson across the world.

This weekend at the U.S. Senior Nationals in Las Vegas, the Paulson brothers can take another step toward reaching the Beijing Summer Games.

The event is the primary qualification for the June 13-15 Olympic Team Trials, and the top seven placewinners advance to the tournament. The Senior Nationals champion gets a three-round bye at the Trials, automatically entering a best-of-three championship series for a spot on the Olympic team.

The tournament, which begins Friday at 10 a.m., follows a year’s worth of preparation.

“It just feels like the snowball effect,” said Trent Paulson, who is ranked second in the country in the 145.5-pound weight class (66 kilograms). “I’ve been putting in the time, I’ve been putting in the effort, and I think each day I’m getting a little better.

“I went overseas, I wrestled the top competition I could, I’ve been to the Olympic Training Center [in Colorado Springs, Colo.] as much as I can. [ISU coach] Cael [Sanderson] has been helping me. [Former ISU coach] Bobby Douglas has been in here. I’ve taken the necessary steps – it’s just a matter of doing it now.”

The twin brothers have distinguished themselves as two of the nation’s top wrestlers throughout their careers. But after graduating last May, the Paulsons have had to adapt to the international level of competition and the freestyle method of wrestling.

Trent also needed to rework his body so the brothers could wrestle in separate weight classes.

After winning the 157-pound NCAA title in 2007, Trent weighed 175 pounds but decided to cut to the 145.5-pound weight division. Travis wrestled a weight above Trent in both college and high school and is currently ranked fifth at 163 pounds (74 kg).

“I thought ’45 was impossible,” said Trent, who trains at 160 pounds. “But I changed my diet. Instead of eating three big meals a day – four to five small ones, and then two-a-days every day. Then my body shrunk to about 165. So far, to make the weight, I’ve had a two-kilo allowance, so I’ve only had to make 149.8 [pounds], and that was damn near impossible. Now I have to make scratch [145.5].”

Trent has excelled at the new weight, however, winning the Dave Schultz Memorial International tournament in Colorado Springs and the Kiev International tournament in Kiev, Ukraine, in February.

Travis placed third in the Alexander Medved International in Minsk, Belarus, on March 9 and has had success against many of the top American contenders in his weight class.

Travis has beaten No. 1-ranked Casey Cunningham, No. 2 Ben Askren and No. 4 Tyrone Lewis, but lost to No. 3 Donny Pritzlaff in February despite two tied periods.

“So I’m pumped, because I know I can compete at that top level,” Paulson said. “I’ve wrestled those top guys, and I know what they’re trying to do . Last year was really my first year training in the circuit. This year, going overseas and wrestling freestyle all year – it’s gotten me to react differently in different situations, and I feel more comfortable and confident going in.”

Trent wrestled at 163 pounds in freestyle competition last spring, so he has less experience against top-ranked contenders, but does hold a win over No. 4 Jared Frayer.

Fifth-ranked Chris Bono is a former ISU NCAA Champion, ISU assistant coach and one of the top U.S. wrestlers at the weight for years. Bono recruited Paulson, but the two have never met in competition.

“He’ll be a tough guy for me,” Trent said.

The Paulsons and 2007 NCAA 184-pound champion Jake Herbert trained at the Minsk Olympic Training Center in Belarus for two weeks last month.

“It was crazy. They had Turkey’s national team, Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada, France. It was 12 mats taped together and over 150 people, and every guy I was wrestling was a world-class wrestler, so it helped with my positioning and knowing what moves work against the best,” Travis said. “The coaches are yelling gibberish that you don’t understand, but there is usually a couple guys that know English that help you out. Mainly it’s just knowing the technique and just looking around and seeing what everybody’s doing.”

The cultural experience was secondary to the understanding the group got of international competition.

“It’s just a different level,” Trent said. “You go over there and all of those guys have wrestled world and Olympic champs. And over there, they don’t wrestle collegiate – all they do is freestyle and greco from when they start wrestling, so they’ve already mastered the skills, so you have to catch up in that way.”