Travis Paulson may have only 33 days until he next wrestles Johny Hendricks, but on Sunday afternoon college wrestling’s villain again got the better of the Cyclone senior.

Paulson (165) left Hilton Coliseum still hoping for his first win over Oklahoma State’s two-time NCAA champion, but not without a reason for his 5-4 defeat.

A key tactical error came back to haunt his rematch against the top-ranked Cowboy. With a 2-1 lead, Paulson opted to intentionally release Hendricks to start the second period, scoring Hendricks one point for an escape. Hendricks took him down just over 30 seconds later, and rode Paulson for one minute eight seconds.

Hendricks had 46 seconds riding time heading into the third period, and when Paulson rolled through to escape, the clock had turned over to an even minute riding time advantage, giving Hendricks the deciding point.

A second earlier, and the two wrestlers would have been battling to avoid overtime for the rest of the period, but instead Hendricks held on to the victory, earning a stall call in the closing seconds.

“I more wanted to wrestle him on my feet,” said Paulson, who is currently ranked third. “I talked to Cael and he said I need to ride him hard so that he can’t get his riding time.”

Paulson (19-4) is 0-5 in his career against Hendricks (25-0), including a 4-3 defeat two weeks prior at the Cliff Keen National Duals.

The 165-pound match started off the meet, in which Iowa State topped the four-time defending national champions, 21-12. The Big 12 Tournament or the NCAA Tournament will again likely pit the rivals against each other.

Hendricks remains the only wrestler to have pinned Paulson in his collegiate career. The Cowboy scored a defensive fall in the fifth-place match of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

Recently, bad blood has boiled between the two conference rivals, with excessive hand-fighting and confrontational activity.

Hendricks claimed Paulson punched him in the stomach during their last match. Sunday, the Cyclone gave Hendricks a forceful tap on the head to end the second period.

“He always whines. He just likes to play off the ref,” Paulson said. “He wants to win easy; he doesn’t want to go out and brawl.”

Hendricks was made unavailable for comment by OSU coach John Smith.

“It wasn’t the result I wanted, but I still feel like I’m making progress . I hope he keeps working or he’s going to run into a surprise at Big 12’s,” Paulson said.

Paulson said he needs to take more shots in the future, but that Hendricks’ faked shots prevented offensive activity Sunday.

Coming into this season, Paulson hadn’t had a close match with Hendricks.

Freshman season, Hendricks won, 7-1, during the regular season and pinned Paulson to take fifth place at the NCAA Tournament. Sophomore season, Hendricks didn’t wrestle in the Big 12 dual, and last season the Cyclone lost, 7-3.

Two one-point matches have put a different spin on the rivalry.

“(The loss) kind of puts a damper on the celebrating for me,” said brother Trent Paulson, who won his match with Newly McSpadden, 11-5, to end the dual. “But just as long as he beats him when it counts I’ll be as happy as can be.”