As Iowa State’s dual against Cornell came down its last match on Sunday, Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” belted from the sound system at Hilton Coliseum one last time.

Andrew Sorenson ran out onto the mat teary eyed with the realization that this was it.

“I’ve been dreaming of this day for a long time, and it’s something I didn’t want to let go,” Sorenson said. “It’s exciting to be done [here] because now I know the national tournament’s next.”

Sorenson’s father Brad said there were as many as 500 people who came to support him in his final home match of his collegiate career — a 21-6 technical fall against Marshall Peppelman in Iowa State’s 28-11 dual loss to No. 4 Cornell on Sunday.

“I was already a little emotional from my match in seeing him react the way he did,” said Michael Moreno, who lost a close 6-1 bout to top-ranked Kyle Dake the match before Sorenson’s. “He wanted to send it out to the fans the right way, and that’s why he worked so hard for that tech [fall].”

Sorenson, ranked fourth in the nation at 165 pounds, has been the team captain throughout the season for the Cyclones (2-12, 0-6 Big 12) and has led the team through its many ups and downs.

“He’s meant a great deal to the program,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “He’s a stud. He’s improved every single year that he’s been at Iowa State, and he continues to advance and dominate opponents.”

Two periods into his match, Sorenson led unranked Peppelman 6-1 with only two minutes remaining in the spotlight at Hilton.

Those two minutes had passed and Sorenson had built his way into a 21-6 technical fall by the end of regulation, notching six takedowns — four in the final minute — to win in emotional fashion.

Sorenson was the only senior of the three who were honored on the team’s senior day to compete, with Kyle Simonson and Jerome Ward out due to injuries sustained last season.

“It’s been tough all year watching,” Simonson said. “But getting injured is always a tough thing to come back from. It was fun to watch Andrew go out there and dominate. We’ve been here all five years together so that was awesome to see.”

For Sorenson, proclaimed to be one of the hardest workers on the team in Jackson’s three years as coach of ISU wrestling, the moment could not have gotten any sweeter.

“I had a ton of people here to support me,” Sorenson said. “They brought buses down and people I haven’t seen in years showed up just for this dual.

“I just wanted to give them something to remember me.”