Conner Herman sat all alone on the front steps at Eby Fieldhouse Friday afternoon, his head in his hands, dressed only in his Luther College singlet despite the cold air.

He had just lost in the semifinals of the Iowa Conference wrestling tournament and his goal of reaching the NCAA Division III tournament as a freshman was in jeopardy.

He sat in that cold air, alone, for five minutes before tugging on his sweatshirt and heading back inside, filled with determination to bounce back.

Nothing has changed since Herman graduated from Cedar Rapids Jefferson last year. His competitive spirit has not diminished a bit.

"Definitely not," he said. "My goal is to get third right now and go to nationals."

That's exactly what he did. After falling in the semifinals, Herman pinned his next opponent in the wrestle-backs and beat Carl Gaul of Cornell in the consolation match for third place, 2-1.

In this case, the "consolation" is a trip to the D-3 nationals in La Crosse, Wis., on March 9-10.

Herman finished his prep wrestling career for the J-Hawks last February as the Class 3A state champion at 215 pounds. He returned to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines a week ago for the 2012 state meet, this time as a spectator.

"It was weird to be there," he said. "Crazy. A year ago I was on top of my weight class, and now I've come back down to the middle of the pack.

"It's a lot different, but it's where I am right now. Hopefully I'll be at the top of the podium sometime at nationals during my four years."

Herman originally enrolled at Coe College, where he planned to play football and wrestle, but changed his mind and switched to Luther College in Decorah.

"That was one of the tough decisions at the beginning of the year. I just felt like a change was needed," he said. "It's nothing against Coe. I just felt in my heart I needed to get away and get things going on my own."

Herman weighed about 220 pounds when he arrived at Luther and thought about wrestling at 197, but the Norse have a strong man at 197 and he stayed at heavyweight. There are no weight classes in college between 197 and heavyweight, unlike high school that had a 215-pound class last year and a 220 bracket this year.

"When I went up there in the beginning, I was getting thrown around a lot," he said. "I was able to adjust enough so I could get a shot at varsity."

Herman had a stiff challenge at Luther to claim the No. 1 spot in the lineup at heavyweight. He said he had to surpass state champions from Arizona, Alaska and Missouri just to make the varsity lineup for the Norse as a freshman.

Herman compiled a 19-11 record during the regular season and was seeded sixth for the Iowa Conference tournament, so he was considered a longshot to finish in the top-3 and qualify for nationals. He lost to the No. 2 seed in the semifinals, but defeated the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 seeds to claim third place.

He'll carry a 22-12 mark to the national tournament in two weeks, when he'll face the stiffest competition of his life. He said college wrestling is a lot different than prep wrestling.

"The biggest difference is the way that people wrestle, I guess," he said. "I lot tougher riding, a lot tougher on your feet. Stalling calls come faster. It's just tougher in general."

Herman did not take his gold medal from the 2011 high school tournament with him when he went to wrestle for Coach Dave Mitchell at Decorah. He left it safely home in Cedar Rapids. "The high school state tournament is in the past," he said.

There's an enduring image, however, of Herman jumping into the arms of Jefferson assistant coach Matt Orton after winning the state title last February, and then of Jefferson head coach Dick Briggs leaping into Herman's arms.

"I'll always have the memory of jumping into Orton's arms and Briggs jumping into mine," he said. "But I need to move on to my college career and hope that I can jump into Coach Mitchell's arms."

Herman did not play football at Luther College this past season, but he's thinking about joining the team this fall. He's singing in the school choir - he'll stop if he plays football - and he's decided to major in education, with the goal of becoming a teacher and coach.

His immediate goal is to finish as high as he can at the national tournament in La Crosse, then get bigger and stronger for next year. He weighs about 240 pounds now and the limit for the college heavyweight division is 285.

He's not satisfied with placing third at the conference tournament and merely qualifying for nationals. He wants more than that and plans to pursue his dream.

"A lot of lifting, a lot more strength," he said. "And get better technically."