Bees claim five place-winners at Heart Championships
Jayden Terronez earned a third bid to the NAIA National Championships and was one of five St. Ambrose place-winners at the Heart of America Wrestling Championships competed at William Penn Friday and Saturday.
Terronez, a National Qualifier in both 2022 and 2023, will make a return trip thanks to his fourth-place conference finish. Competing at 165 pounds, Terronez needed to work his way through the consolation bracket after losing his first match 13-8 in the quarterfinals. He recovered to get back-to-back wins, including a win by pinfall in 3:54 and a 12-7 decision. He lost the third-place match and had to settle for fourth, but that was enough to guarantee his trip to Nationals.
With Terronez the only Bee certain to see his season continue, several teammates put themselves in position to also earn a Nationals bid.
Diego Machado and Tyler Casey led the way in the conference tournament by earning all-conference honors.
Machado, who qualified for Nationals last year, rolled to a 3-1 record at the Heart Championships at 157 pounds. A 12-5 quarterfinal victory pushed him through to the semifinals. A loss there was followed by a 15-8 decision and then a 5-3 victory in the third-place match, giving him all-Heart honorable mention.
Casey made a surprising run to the championship bout in the heavyweight division to earn second team all-conference recognition. He earned a shot at a conference championship with a 7-2 win in the quarterfinals and a 2-1 sudden-victory decision in the semifinal round. He then dropped the first-place match and also lost a battle for true-second 8-4.
Guiseppe Guerra placed fifth at 141 pounds. A dominant 10-0 major decision in the first round was followed by a tight 12-9 loss in the quarterfinals. He then picked up 13-6 and 8-4 decisions on the consolation side. Guerra lost a decision before recovering to pin his opponent in 1:25 in the fifth-place battle.
Anthony Sartori took sixth at 174 pounds. He won by fall in 6:03 and ultimately lost the fifth-place match by a 13-10 decision.
Mick Chagnon and Riece Graham both reached the quarterfinals of the 125-pound bracket before seeing their tournaments come to a close. Chagnon earned a quarterfinal spot with a 10-0 major decision while Graham used a 15-7 major decision to also get to the quarters.
Josh Zeman picked up a third-period pin at the 6:17 mark in a match at 149 pounds en route to reaching the fourth round of the consolation bracket at 149 pounds. Tate O'Shea lost in the second round also at 149 pounds before an injury default took him out of the championships.
Colin O'Grady (184 pounds) and Dylan Meiners (197 pounds) also competed for the Bees.
The NAIA Championships will begin Mar. 6 in Park City, Kan. Terronez and the rest of the field will be announced next week.