An all-time great: Elma’s Xavier Espinoza cements his legacy with second-straight state title

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, February 25, 2026

When the history of the Elma boys wrestling program is written, current Eagles senior Xavier Espinoza will be one of the names at the top.

Espinoza concluded his brilliant prep career with a second-consecutive state championship, beating Cashmere’s Marsall Pell 2-1 in the 1A class 132-pound title match at the Mat Classic XXXVII on Saturday in Tacoma.

The victory cemented Espinoza’s legacy as one of the school, and Harbor’s, best prep wrestlers in history. By reaching the state final, Espinoza becomes the first Elma Eagle to wrestle in four-consecutive state-championship matches, placing second in 2023 and 2024 and first the past two seasons.

He is the first Eagle to win back-to-back state titles since Aaron Sample in 2002-03 and led Elma to a fourth-place state trophy, the first state hardware for the Eagles since placing fourth in 2002.

Espinoza’s accomplishments have put his name up with the likes of Elma legend David Graham, who was a three-time state champion back in the late 1980’s.

But it was anything but easy for Espinoza as this season has been plagued with injuries and setbacks, but never doubt.

The talented senior suffered a setback with a neck injury that had him out of competition for approximately two weeks in December and was followed by a setback that nearly cost him a chance at another state title.

During the state duals competition a few weeks ago, Espinoza suffered a meniscus injury that left him on one leg.

In a character-revealing act of grit, Espinoza chose not to take an injury default and sit out his match with none other than Pell.

“It was state duals and if I injury forfeit out, that would have been six points against my team and six points they’d have to dig out of,” Espinoza said.

Pell beat a hobbled Espinoza 20-5 and had to battle back from injury leading up to the state tournament.

“I went out there and wrestled my hardest and got beat,” he said of the loss to Pell. “I soaked it in for a bit but I didn’t let that define me.”

“He just doesn’t want to disappoint anyone. He’s just build different in that aspect,” Elma head coach Jeff Catterlin said. “He loves competing. It’s really tough to compare him to anybody because he’s just a special kid.”

Catterlin and the Eagles coaching staff kept a keen eye on Espinoza’s recovery from the injury, but as the tournament neared, they had no qualms about letting Espinoza loose for another state-title run.

“We treated it and did everything we could and he got a real fancy knee brace to wrestle in the state tournament. It didn’t knock him off of what he wanted. … We were worried going in if this would hinder his opportunity to be a four-time finalist and two-time champ. We were worried going in. But his level of competition he’s used to and his mindset helped him overcome it,” Catterlin said, adding Espinoza made significant improvements in the week leading up to the state tournament that made him feel confident he’d be able to perform. “That week, he was moving better than he had the previous week. … He was fine enough to get it done. He was going to go no matter what. This was the last ride and he was not going to be denied an opportunity to go and do it. We were confident he was going to come home with a medal, we just didn’t know exactly how well he felt. … If he looked good in practice, we left him alone. … Every time I asked him how he felt before every match, he’d reply with the same thing, ‘I feel at peace.’ That gave me confidence that nothing is going to knock him off-course.”

And nothing did.

Knee-brace and all, Espinoza – a No. 3 seed – dominated his first three opponent, outscoring them by a total of 43-0 that included a pinfall win, a major decision and a technical fall-victory.

Against the top-seeded Pell in the final, Espinoza scored a two-point reversal at 1:40 of the second period with Pell picking up a point on an escape at 1:10.

Espinoza was able to control Pell from the top in the third period, holding him scoreless to earn the 2-1 victory, cementing a well-earned legacy as a standard-bearer of the Eagles program.

“My thought process was, if I could hold him down, I could win,” he said of the championship match. “I knew if it came down to neutral, I knew I could get my shots off and (Pell’s) defense is just insane. I didn’t want to go into overtime because he’s been working hard and I didn’t want to take that risk. I knew I had to hold him down for that win.”

Espinoza said he didn’t put too much pressure on himself to win at state and that his goal was to win his final match, regardless of placement.

“My mentality was to just go out there, score points and have fun. I know these guys are the best of the best, and I’m here to wrestle the best and in order to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best and that’s what I did,” he said. “It sunk in earlier today that I ended my season with a win. Regardless of how I finished on the podium, I finished it how I wanted to. Regardless of place, I was going to end my season on a good note. I was going to go out there and have fun and I did that. I’m happy with how I finished. I’m just so grateful to be part of the team I was on. I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.”

Another good note for Espinoza to leave on was he was the spearhead of an Eagles team that placed fourth at state after just missing out on a state trophy a season ago.

“It’s been a long time since we brought home a state trophy from that tournament,” said Catterlin, noting the last time Elma placed at state was fourth in 2002. “Every single kid wrestled their hardest.”

“We stuck it out, had our guys go through the backdoor and get some wins, get some pins and we turned some heads,” Espinoza said. “Everyone has always been sleeping on Elma, now they’ve got nothing to sleep on. No. 4 in the state and they can’t take that from us.”

When asked about the legacy he leaves behind, Espinoza’s thoughts were on the future of the program.

“I know that it’s going to be hard for people to compare themselves to that because it’s a hard thing to do,” he said. “But I want the next generation to be better than me and better than I ever was.”

That kind of character is not lost on Catterlin, who said Espinoza earned every bit of the accolades that have come his way.

“Xavier has paid the price. He has wrestled all summer long for 4-5 summers straight. He has paid the piper,” Catterlin said. “You can’t ask for a kid to put in more time than he has put in. … He’s just prepared. He has prepared himself for this kind of success.”