The Bobcat heavyweight capped his first, last and only appearance at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena by accepting the bronze medal in Class 3A, all the while wondering what would have happened if he had only wrestled his match in Friday’s semifinal loss to top-seeded Griffin Liddle of Bettendorf.

“Right now it just feels bittersweet,” he shrugged, shortly after scoring back-to-back pins on Saturday morning to move on from Friday’s semifinal disappointment. “My attitude just changed a lot, I didn’t feel as much pressure today so I just wanted to come out and have fun and that’s what I did.

“In between matches I was still thinking about [Friday], man, but when I got out there I did my thing and made the most of my last two high school matches.”

The fourth-ranked Anderson (30-2) finished off his run to Marshalltown’s first state wrestling medal since 2016 by pinning Waverly-Shell Rock’s No. 7 Luke Walker in 1 minute, 33 seconds, and Norwalk’s Maddux Borchering-Johnson in 3:16 in Saturday’s consolation semifinal and final, maximizing his opportunities with aggressive offense and a fierce finishing touch.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown High School senior Jordan Anderson has his hand raised after defeating Maddux Borchering-Johnson of Norwalk in the Class 3A heavyweight third-pound match on Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Anderson went 4-1 for the tournament with three pins, handing Borchering-Johnson (37-4) his first loss by fall this season in the match to determine third place. The two heavyweights circled each other for most of the first period before the Norwalk freshman won the coin flip and selected the bottom position to start the second period.

Anderson again proved his potency on top by turning his second-straight opponent to his back for the pin, making it 24 pins of his 30 wins this winter.

“I just feel good that I only lost once in this tournament and only lost twice all year, and I’m just glad I won my way through the rest of the tournament,” he said, “that I pinned my way through the rest of the tournament.

“After losing [Friday] night and coming in this morning I was just looking to have fun and do what I want. There wasn’t really a plan of attack, I just wanted to do my own thing and have fun so I did, and I went out and probably wrestled both those matches the best I had all year.

“I kind of wish I would have wrestled like that before, but I can’t change anything now,” Anderson added.

Anderson opened the morning with a dominant triumph over Walker, the same wrestler he beat in the district finals by a 3-0 decision. Anderson tallied a takedown 30 seconds into their match and followed it up with another blast double-leg shot that sent Walker to his back. The move resulted in a first-period pin and the right to wrestle for third place instead of fifth.

“What a great tournament,” MHS head coach Mike Mann said of his senior heavyweight. “You come down here with the goal of winning it and you know there’s three or four guys you’ve got to go through. The guy that beat him is the champ and that makes you look even better.

“Jordan finished like he should have after the loss and coming back. [First place] is a great goal but very few get to be the top. He’s the third-best heavyweight in the state, what a way to finish his career. It was awesome.”

Liddle (19-0) defeated Gabe Greenlee of Ames, 7-2, for the heavyweight title on Saturday night. Greenlee got Anderson with a third-period pin in the CIML Invitational final, while Liddle tallied a second-period pin over Anderson in the state semifinals.

“I still wish I was [atop the podium],” Anderson added. “I’m still thinking about ‘what if?'”

With his third-place medal, Anderson becomes the first Bobcat to place at state since Josh Edel, Devan Mann and Peyton Williams each did in 2016, and the highest MHS placewinner since Pedro Gomez won the heavyweight title in 2013.

The last Bobcat wrestler to place third at state? Both Rick Caldwell and Alan Lovell did so in 1987.

“One of the neat things that remind you why you do this is Jordan was starting to fold back in his mind and reminisce about this journey,” said Mann. “There are some things in life you do once and you only do once … so you’ve got to soak it up, you’ve got to enjoy it.

“He started to reflect on his whole high school career and the things he’s seen and all the dedication, hard work, self-discipline — all the words you would use to describe wresting — that totally apply to life, and it’s all coming together for him.”