ST. LOUIS - None of the 20 wrestlers who will compete on the elevated platform on Saturday night will be wearing the Scarlet and Cream colors of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

But even without any finalists, Nebraska still has a chance to be driving back to Lincoln with a team trophy after its strong performance in Saturday's consolation finals at the NCAA Championships.

The fifth-ranked Huskers had their five All-Americans place third, third, fourth, fourth and eighth as their tournament concluded. Nebraska now stands in second place with 74 points entering the finals.

"We just have to keep building," Nebraska coach Mark Manning said. "We think we have some (potential) national champions besides Paul Donahoe in our room. We've got some real tough young guys coming back. We're excited about what is ahead for us."

Iowa clinched their 21st team title - and first since 2000 early in Session 5 - on Saturday morning before 15,541 fans at the Scottrade Center. The Hawkeyes now have 109.5 points entering the finals and have three wrestlers going for the gold tonight. Iowa sophomore Jay Borschel capped a strong NCAA tournament by placing third at 174 and senior heavyweight Matt Fields capped the session by placing fifth at heavyweight.

A number of teams have a chance to jump over Nebraska in the finals. Right behind the Huskers are Iowa State (72 points, one finalist), Ohio State (71, three), Penn State (71, two), Michigan (69, two) and Central Michigan (69, one). The top four teams receive a trophy.

Returning national champion Paul Donahoe of Nebraska regrouped from a stinging semifinal loss to Minnesota's Jayson Ness to win two matches Saturday morning and place third at 125 pounds.

Donahoe, a junior, was in control in Friday night's semifinal before Ness scored a takedown with eight seconds left to win 4-3.

"I wrestled like an idiot for the last 10 seconds - it cost me a NCAA title," Donahoe said. "There were a million things I could've done better. I felt twice as strong and twice as fast as that kid. It was my fault and I let it slip away."

"I'm going to train twice as hard in the offseason. I have one year left and I will be hungry again."

Donahoe showed an abundance of resiliency in bouncing back to take third.

"I knew I had to go out and help our team," he said. "I would love to see our team finish second. That would be good."

All five Nebraska All-Americans return next season. Also for the Huskers, sophomore Jordan Burroughs was third at 149, junior Brandon Browne was fourth at 174, sophomore Craig Brester was fourth at 197 and sophomore Stephen Dwyer was eighth at 165.

"We knew we dug ourselves a hole last night," Brester said. "Everyone knew what they had to do and everyone was going to wrestle their hardest no matter what the team race looked like."

Fields, a prized recruit who had never been an All-American before this year, was one of the feel-good stories for the Hawkeyes after he placed fifth to finish his career.

"I don't want to say I proved everybody wrong because I wasn't a national champion," Fields said. "But I proved I have some ability as a wrestler. I can hold my own and I can wrestle well at times. I just wasn't as consistent as I needed to be."

Returning national champion Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro finished fifth at 157. Returning national champion Josh Glenn of American was fifth at 197.

2006 NCAA champion Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota finished seventh at 149. Schlatter, a junior, placed third at the 2007 NCAA meet.