After watching his brother Andrew at a young age, Aaron Sorenson put on the wrestling shoes and singlet and followed him to the mat.

“I saw Andrew wrestling, so I just started wrestling,” Aaron said. “Obviously we’re brothers, so we’re going to fight, but instead of throwing punches we’re making takedowns and doing reversals.”

When Andrew’s first-grade teacher sent home a slip suggesting he take up wrestling due to his high energy displayed in class, his parents sent him off to his first meet in a T-shirt and shorts.

After winning the tournament, Andrew began what has become a long journey into the sport of wrestling.

A redshirt senior, this season will be Andrew’s last in the cardinal-and-gold singlet. The Cyclones’ 165-pounder is ranked No. 4 in the nation, has collected 87 career victories and is gunning to be an All-American and national champion this season.

When he does step off the mat for the final time as a Cyclone though, the Sorenson family won’t say goodbye to ISU wrestling. Last winter, before the start of his senior wrestling season, Aaron chose to once again follow in his brother’s footsteps.

“After I committed to Iowa State, I called my brother right away and I lied to him and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to UNI,'” Aaron said. “His first reaction was [that] he flipped on me.”

Andrew said he stayed away from his brother’s college decision, but said he knew Iowa State was Aaron’s best option after he saw what ISU coach Kevin Jackson had done for him. Now, Aaron is learning from both Jackson and his older brother in Ames.

“He’s constantly teaching me more,” Aaron said. “I don’t have his experience with all of this and I’m just glad I actually have someone that close to me that I can always rely on to teach me more.”

Jackson said when he sees the Sorensons, he sees the love they have for one another and said Andrew pushes Aaron to reach his potential.

“Andrew is a tough big brother, he gets on him and he gets after him,” Jackson said. “He tells him if he thinks he’s not doing the right things, and that’s on and off the mat.”

For Andrew, having his younger brother on the team has been special. Both brothers said they enjoy hanging out on weekends and spending time together both on and off the mat.

“We’ve never been on the same team in anything because we were always four years apart,” Andrew said. “It’s been pretty special that he’s gotten to be here. It’s just nice having my brother there.”

Aaron agreed with his brother’s sentiment.

“We’re closer than ever,” Aaron said. “We’re better than best friends.”

Aaron redshirted this season, but he hopes to compete for a spot in the lineup next season. When he does get on the mat, he’ll be following one of the team’s main focal points of recent years.

“It’s something to follow, but it makes it tougher on the next one,” said Brad Sorenson, father of Aaron and Andrew. “Everyone expects that next one to be as good or better than your brother.”

The Cyclones have another set of brothers on the team in Trent and Tanner Weatherman, and next season, Gabe Moreno will join his brother Michael, who is the starting 157-pounder this season. Jackson, who wrestled with his brother, said he hopes Aaron tries to be his own person.

“I think what [Aaron] can do is live and learn from his brother’s history and experiences and then hopefully challenge himself from there,” Jackson said. “I hope he’s not thinking about living up to what his brother’s done and we hope he’s thinking about outperforming his brother.”

Aaron has followed Andrew to the mat, the state tournament and finally to Iowa State, but hopes he can be known as more than just the younger sibling.

“Instead of being Andrew’s little brother,” Aaron said, “I want to be Aaron Sorenson.”