COLUMBIA, Mo. - Everybody knew the Big 12 race was going to be close. And after the first session of wrestling inside the Hearnes Center, only 10 ½ points separate first and fourth.

Iowa State, with five in the finals, leads Oklahoma State by three (44-41) with Missouri (35 1/2) and Nebraska (33 ½) in hot pursuit. Oklahoma's 20 points are fifth.

O-State, winners of the last four Big 12 titles and eight of the 10 since 1996, also pushed five to the finals, getting a scare at 165 pounds where two-time national champion Johny Hendricks (29-0) was taken to his back by Nebraska freshman Stephen Dwyer in the second period and led 6-5 entering the third. Hendricks, now a winner of 51-straight matches, escaped and won 8-5 on riding time.

The senior is joined in the finals by Coleman Scott (25-3), Nathan Morgan (15-3), Brandon Mason (23-10) and Jared Rosholt (22-9).

Morgan, a two-time league champ, had to fight off ISU freshman Mitch Mueller, 4-3, in the 141-pound semifinals, while Scott had little trouble with OU's Brian Shelton at 133 pounds.

The Cyclones also escaped the upset bug.

Trent Paulson (23-4) the top-seed at 157 pounds, trailed Oklahoma's Will Rowe 5-2 late in a semifinal, but rallied to tie it and force overtime where he took Rowe straight to his back for a 10-5 victory. 

Freshman Jake Varner (25-5) was locked in a 1-0 match with OSU's Jack Jensen in a 184-pound semifinal. Riding time and a late takedown gave ISU its fourth finalist. 

"We needed the win at 184 … that was a big match in this thing," said OSU head coach John Smith. "There's a lot of wrestling left in this thing and every match is big at this point."

Heavyweight David Zabriskie, also a freshman, pinned OU's Brad Farmer to move to the title bout. Travis Paulson (24-4) dominated Matt Pell (16-5) in a 165-pound semifinal, winning 10-3.

Cyclone wrestlers were involved in perhaps two of the more entertaining bouts of the early session.

At 149, Cyler Sanderson (26-8) trailed MU's Josh Wagner 7-6 after the second period and five minutes of scrambling and near-misses. A Wagner escape made it 8-6, but Sanderson won a scramble to tie it at 8-8. The younger brother of head coach Cael, Cyler immediately cut Wagner and went back to work, winning another scramble with 20 seconds remaining for a 10-9 victory.

At 197, ISU senior Kurt Backes, the only wrestler to beat MU freshman Max Askren this season, hammered O-State's Jared Shelton in the first round to get another shot at Askren.

Backes (24-5) took a 7-5 lead early in the third, but Askren (27-2) reversed to tie it at 7-7 with a minute to wrestle. Backes could not get away and spent the final 15 seconds dangerously close to getting a late reversal. Riding time gave the Tiger rookie an 8-7 win.

The other 197-pound semifinal was one of the two big surprises.

Nebraska freshman Craig Brester (17-4) jumped out early on All-American Joel Flaggert of OU. It didn't take the full seven minutes as Brester rolled to a 17-2 technical fall to advance to a final where he'll meet another freshman.

Before taking Hendricks to the wire, Dwyer dominated OU's Shane Siebert, 11-2, in the first round.

The Sooners advanced only Sam Hazewinkel (19-0) and Matt Storniolo (15-1) to the finals. 

The top-ranked 125-pounder in the country, with only three matches since Jan. 6 due to injury, started slow but cradled OSU's Tyler Shinn in the second period for a pin. Storniolo used one of his goofy counters for four to beat Nebraska freshman Jordan Burroughs, 7-3.

MU's Ben Askren moved his win streak to 78 with a quick pin in his 174-pound semifinal. Tyler McCormick had little trouble with ISU's Nick Gallick at 133, while 184-pounder Raymond Jordon hammered OU's Josh Hinton to move to the finals.