Facing a two-time national champion, redshirt freshman Michael Moreno wasn’t about to back down and concede.

As Iowa State faced off against Cornell on Sunday at Hilton Coliseum, Cyclone wrestlers faced a lineup that boasted several highly ranked wrestlers. One of those wrestlers was No. 1 Kyle Dake at 157 pounds.

For Moreno, his approach to facing the top-ranked Dake was different than what he’s done in the past.

“Old me probably would have been in there just trying to hold on and trying to wrestle to the best of my ability,” Moreno said. “This was probably the first time that I’ve went out there and believed I could win.”

No. 14 Iowa State (2-12, 0-6 Big 12) fell to No. 4 Cornell (8-0, 4-0 EIWA) 28-12 when all was said and done Sunday, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort from Moreno.

After two periods, Moreno trailed just 2-0 to Dake and still had a chance with two minutes remaining in the match. With an escape in the third period, Moreno scored the first point ever against Dake in a dual match this season.

With a reversal and takedown, however, Dake would take the match 6-1.

“He wrestled a great match, but he made mistakes,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson of Moreno. “Against the best guys, you can’t make mistakes to give up points.”

Dake felt he wrestled sloppy, but said Moreno wrestled hard.

“He’s a competitor and he had the crowd on his side,” Dake said. “He wrestled pretty tough and he stopped some of my shots.”

Despite the loss, the crowd rose to their feet for a standing ovation as Moreno ran off the mat. Moreno said he wasn’t sure if it was deserved, but he appreciated the gesture.

“A win is what I think deserves a standing ovation, but I love the Iowa State fans,” Moreno said. “For the fans to give me a standing ovation for a loss, it makes me feel like I gave it my all and they can see that.”

Despite the loss, Moreno did feel like he accomplished one thing against what he called the “reigning king” — he made his name known.

“I didn’t get the win, but he knows my name,” Moreno said.

And the match, Moreno said, will push him moving forward.

“All this does now is open up my eyes and really gets me excited for the Big 12 tournament,” Moreno said. “If I can wrestle him like that, I can beat anybody else.”