Jayden and Daniel Terronez headed to NAIA Championships
In its second year in its return to the mat, St. Ambrose will be sending two wrestlers to the NAIA Championships. Jayden Terronez and Daniel Terronez will represent SAU in Wichita, Kan., March 3-4, thanks to their performances at the Heart of America Championships hosted by William Penn Saturday. It will be the second straight year Jayden Terronez has qualified for Nationals.
Jayden punched his 2023 ticket by finishing second at 165 pounds at the Heart Championships. Daniel placed third at 149 pounds.
Jayden Terronez rolled through his first three matches. It took just 39 seconds for him to get the pin in his first-round match. He followed that with a 16-4 major decision in the quarterfinals and a 9-3 decision in the semifinals. His quest for a conference crown came up short in the championship match as he settled for second place.
Daniel Terronez had to work his way through the consolation bracket after losing his quarterfinal match. But that's when he got on a roll. Decisions of 13-7, 7-5, 7-5 and 10-3, the last coming in the third-place match, allowed him to get a bid to Nationals.
The Bees nearly had other qualifiers. Dylan Meiners was the closest as he finished fourth at 184 pounds. Meiners reached the semifinals after an 11-9 sudden-victory decision in the quarters. After falling in the championship semis, he picked up a 10-7 decision in the consolation semifinals before coming up short in the third-place match.
Riley Woods and Tyler Casey also won multiple matches. Woods pinned his first-round opponent at 141 pounds in 2:41 and earned a 16-0 tech fall in 2:20 in the consolation bracket. His run ended with a 12-10 decision. Casey earned an 8-3 decision at 197 pounds and also pinned his opponent in the second round of the consolation bracket before falling 5-2.
In all, 10 of the 12 SAU wrestlers competing at the Heart Championships earned at least one point. That helped St. Ambrose finish seventh in the 11-team league with 60 points.. No. 1-ranked Grand View won its eighth straight conference title with 229 points. Missouri Valley was second with 152.5 team points.
Steele Dias (125 pounds), Mick Chagnon (125 pounds), Parker Terronez (149 pounds), Slade Dias (157 pounds) and Diego Machado (157 pounds) each won one match. Chris Bridges and Thade Gottschalk, both wrestling at 174 pounds, also competed for St. Ambrose.
Jayden Terronez, who was 0-2 at Nationals last year, and Daniel Terronez will look to follow up Matt Robertson's run to the quarterfinals at the 2022 NAIA Championships.