AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The Cyclones advanced three out of the four wrestlers they took into the semifinals for Saturday night’s NCAA finals, propelling Iowa State to a 3.5 point team lead over Minnesota.

Trent Paulson (157), Jake Varner (184) and Kurt Backes (197) all won close decisions on their way to the championship round.

“I’m just proud to be associated with these guys and work with them to help them reach their goals,” Cael Sanderson said.

Trent Paulson got the momentum rolling for the Cyclones with a 4-0 decision over Michael Poeta of Illinois, advancing to the NCAA finals for the first time.

Paulson used 3 minutes, 18 seconds of riding time to control the explosive Poeta and avenge an earlier 9-8 loss in the Midlands Open finals. He will face seventh-seed Craig Henning of Wisconsin.

“I’m just going to go out and stay offensive and try and score as many points as I can,” Paulson said. “I know he’s really long and lanky and likes to scramble, so I’m going to have to have hard hitting shots that finish right away.”

Twin brother Travis Paulson (165) wrestled his closest match yet against two-time national champion Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State, losing in the second criteria of overtime with a last-second attempt at an escape.

“There’s not much you can say to cheer him up right now,” Trent Paulson said. “I’ll just be as positive as I can and just tell him to come back strong and help out the team.”

Travis Paulson is the only wrestler still left in the consolation bracket as Nick Fanthorpe (125), Cyler Sanderson (149) and David Zabriskie all lost consolation matches on Friday night.

Individually and for the team, Jake Varner (184) came through with a win with a 4-2 overtime decision over Minnesota’s second-seeded Roger Kish, capturing his first win over Kish in two earlier tries this year.

Varner tied the match up at 2-2 with an escape after Kish became the first wrestler to score on the freshman in the tournament. He was able to get around the two-time NCAA finalist for a takedown with only five seconds to go in overtime, setting up a match with No. 1 seed Jake Herbert of Northwestern.

“He got that takedown, but I knew I had to get away before he got that riding time point,” Varner said. “Once I got away, I knew I was all right.”

The confident freshman said he left it all out on the mat and didn’t worry about any pressure.

“I just knew going out there that I didn’t have as much pressure because he’s beaten me twice, so all the pressure was on him,” Varner said.

Senior Kurt Backes (197) gained his first finals bid with a 5-4 decision over fourth-seed Phil Davis of Penn State. He used two first-period takedowns to gain his title bout with second-seeded Joshua Glenn of American.

“It’s awesome,” Backes said. “I wish I was [in the finals] every year, but it happens like that. I’m just going out with a bang. Going out how I want to go.”

Second place Minnesota has one wrestler in the finals and four in the consolation brackets, compared to Iowa State’s three in the finals and one in the consolations.

The NCAA wrestling finals start at 7 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.