Slip I think you have a selective reading problem.
There were plenty of people telling you to go back to your first idea very early on. There were plenty of people trying to help you but you actually discarded quite a lot of their comments, or justified to yourself why you wouldnt change things. Go back and read through again and you will see what I mean. Another reason to mark you down for the entry was poor poly usage imo, having seen the wire the carrot is seriously overdone in the tri department.
I'm not trying to put you down or anything like that. The important thing isn't about where you come in a competition, it's that you're learning stuff and taking on board everyones comments. You can't really lose in a competition like this, unless of course nobody comments on your work at all