DES MOINES — The Bobcats are going back to the medal stand — twice — for the second year in a row.

Marshalltown seniors Nicholas Wise and Dalton Zednichek earned their places on the podium by way of Thursday’s results at the IHSAA State Wrestling Championships at the Casey’s Center.

“It’s pretty big for our program,” said MHS head coach Luke Cross. “Two years in a row we’ve had two placers. We had a little bit of a drought my first few years here, and it’s just good to show that we’re having success and the systems are working.”

Wise, rated No. 3 by IAwrestle, has a spot in Friday night’s Class 3A 144-pound semifinals after pinning fifth-ranked Stoney Wood of Indianola in 3 minutes, 2 seconds, in his only match Thursday.

Wise (37-1) will face fourth-ranked Hayden Hutt of Waukee Northwest (37-5) for a shot at Saturday’s heralded finale.

“Last year I was nervous going into the matches and this year I feel like I am strong enough to do it and I know I’m going to get the job done,” said Wise, who placed seventh at 138 a season ago.

Zednichek, ranked eighth at 190, bounced back from a quarterfinal loss to top-rated Brayden Koester of Bettendorf (42-4), falling in 1:24, and pinned Southeast Polk’s Scott Smith in 4:37 to avoid elimination and earn his spot on the podium for the first and last time in his prep career.

“Every match is a dogfight,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how ready you are, you’re gonna get tired. Just the fact that you’re in the match, and this being the blood round, this is either the match that determines my place or it’s my last match ever.

“All bets are off, you just gotta put it all out there.”

Zednichek can place anywhere from third to eighth place as determined by the results of Friday and Saturday.

MHS sophomore Nicholas Million narrowly missed out on the award stand in his state debut, settling for a 29-11 season that ended with a loss by fall to ninth-ranked Kylan Walsh of Linn-Mar (30-11).

Million claimed his opening match of the day to stay in the hunt, scoring a 16-8 major decision over Carlisle’s Maxwell Baccam, but his tournament ended one win short of a medal.