Updated at 11:25 p.m. CST March 18

ST. LOUIS — With two days of the the NCAA wrestling championships completed, the ISU wrestling team finds itself further behind than expected.

After sitting in third after the first day, the Cyclones now are behind seven other programs in eighth place.

“We didn’t wrestle badly today,” ISU coach Bobby Douglas said. “We could have done some things better but we have to concentrate on tomorrow.”

The Cyclones have just three of their initial eight wrestlers still in action.

Nate Gallick escaped the semifinals unscathed with a 2-0 decision over fifth-seeded Andy Simmons.

Simmons, one of the best wrestlers on a competitive Michigan State team, was flagged for stalling and gave up an escape in the third in the loss.

Gallick will have yet another matchup with 2003 141-pound national champion Teyon Ware of Oklahoma. Ware defeated Tennessee Chattanooga’s Michael Keefe by technical fall, 18-3, in the semifinals.

Gallick defeated Ware at the Big 12 championships March 5 by criteria in a 3-3 match.

Trent Paulson defeated defending national champion Matt Gentry of Stanford 8-6 in overtime. Paulson scored a takedown in the extra time, giving him the sudden victory.

But Paulson lost his semifinal match to 2003 157-pound national champion Ryan Bertin of Michigan. Paulson never led and was defeated 10-7.

He will wrestle Indiana’s Brandon Becker on Saturday for a place in either the third- or seventh-place match.

Travis Paulson lost in the quarterfinals to top-seeded defending national champion Troy Letters of Lehigh. Letters scored a takedown and never looked back on his way to a 4-0 victory.

In the consolation bracket, Travis lost a 2-1 decision to Minnesota’s Matt Nagel — preventing him from garnering All-American honors.

Kurt Backes, the second-ranked wrestler in the nation at 184 pounds, was upset by No. 7 seed Tyler Baier of Cornell. Baier scored a late takedown to oust Backes from the championship round. On a roll, Baier then advanced to the finals with a late takedown of Nebraska’s Travis Pascoe.

Backes was also denied All-American distinction. Iowa’s Paul Bradley showed again that he has Backes’ number when he took him down with 12 seconds remaining to steal a 3-1 victory.

“I’m disappointed in the way [Travis and Backes] wrestled,” Douglas said. “I’m not as disappointed as they are, but they have two years to learn from this feeling.”

Scott Coleman will wrestle for seventh place tomorrow. He defeated seventh-seeded Bill Stouffer of Central Michigan 5-4 but then lost to second-seeded Cole Konrad of Minnesota 2-1. Coleman moved to the consolation bracket where he defeated Sacred Heart’s Payam Zarrinpour 4-0. Pennsylvania’s Matt Feast got the best of Coleman in the next match. He defeated Coleman 3-2 in a tiebreaker situation.

Coleman’s seventh-place match guarantees him All-American honors and is a rematch with Stouffer.

“Any time you earn All-American [status], you’ve done a good job,” Douglas said. “Scott Coleman has done a good job.”

In the first session of the day, junior Grant Nakamura was eliminated after an 8-5 loss to Mark McKnight of Buffalo.

Jesse Sundell decisioned ninth-seeded Jason Borrelli from Central Michigan in the morning session. Behind 6-5, Sundell scored a reversal and two near fall points to win 9-6.

In his next match, Sundell was pinned in 1:12 by Evan Sola of North Carolina.

Sola, seeded 11th, has been on a roll, defeating five opponents in the consolation bracket — including Oklahoma State’s Nathan Morgan and Illinois’ Mark Jayne.

Senior Nick Passolano ended his career with an 8-5 loss to Andy Roy of Rutgers.

The tournament concludes Saturday night with the championship matches beginning at 7 p.m.