LINCOLN, Neb. — One injury held Iowa State back on Saturday.

All-American Travis Paulson wasn’t able to wrestle against Nebraska because of a rib injury, and his replacement, junior Mike Somsky, lost a major decision to Cornhusker Jacob Klein at 165 pounds. It turned out to be the difference in the meet: Nebraska won by one point, 16-15.

The teams split the meet, with five individual victories credited to each team. Klein’s major decision, however, earned his team an extra point.

In the marquee matchup of the night, top-ranked Nate Gallick attacked fourth-ranked Matt Murray for the full seven minutes and left the Nebraska Coliseum with a 5-2 victory.

“I wasn’t worried about losing,” Gallick said. “I just wanted to go out there and wrestle and get a win. I had confidence, and as soon as I stepped on the mat I was ready to go.”

The win moves Gallick to a perfect 22-0 on the regular season. He is 4-0 against Murray, last year’s national runner-up. Gallick will be the top seed at 141 pounds in the Big 12 tournament.

“Mentally, I’m strong,” Gallick said. “I’m [mentally] tougher than I’ve ever been right now. The coaches have been great, and I did a lot of one-on-one work with Coach Douglas, and he’s really taken me under his wing and helped me a lot.”

In a crucial match at 184 pounds, second-ranked Kurt Backes lost in the final seconds when fourth-ranked Travis Pascoe scored a late takedown.

When the final buzzer sounded, the score read 8-6 in favor of Pascoe. ISU head coach Bobby Douglas and assistant Cael Sanderson both stepped onto the mat to question two apparent takedowns where Backes was awarded no points.

The referee quickly brushed off both Cyclone coaches before starting the 197-pound match between Trevor Smith and No. 12 B.J. Padden. Smith came out the aggressor the entire match and upset Padden, earning a 4-1 decision and pulling the second-ranked Cyclones a within a point, 10-9.

“I’m excited about [the win],” Smith said. “I know I can come out here and compete. I know I could beat anybody in the country right now.

“This is the best I’ve ever felt since I’ve been here.”

Heavyweight Scott Coleman took out Jon May to give Iowa State a 12-10 lead, but Nebraska stormed back.

Matt Keller defeated Iowa State’s Grant Nakamura 4-3 to put Nebraska back on top 13-12.

Iowa State junior Jesse Sundell countered a move by Dominick Moyer early in the first period and almost pinned him, jumping to a 5-2 lead. However, he was unable to avoid a late charge by Moyer, and lost the match 13-10.

Iowa State finished the regular season 18-2. The Big 12 championships are March 5 in Omaha, Neb.