Defending state champion Xander Erolin has never competed on a national scale.

No mainland tournaments. There was a camp in Pennsylvania in November 2021, but the Hanalani/Pac-Five wrestler has not been to Fargo, N.D., like so many of Hawaii’s elite competitors over the years.

It is a trend that became highly visible in this 2022-23 year: athletes who stuck to the grind every day and mastered their fundamentals before dominating in their sport — without myriad tournaments, combines or camps.

“During the pandemic, he and a group of his teammates, a bunch of kids in general, they trained at my parents’ house,” Pac-Five coach Jared Ellis recalled. “Back yard, just on a couple of mats. Covered. They got two years of work, but no competition, no travel. It was kind of cool to come out last season and see them compete for the first time, No one had seen them compete for two years.”

What followed is borderline epic. Erolin had only one loss last year en route to the state crown in the highly competitive 152 weight class, becoming the first wrestler from Hanalani Schools in Mililani to win a state title.

This season, he repeated as a gold-medal winner at 152 in the ILH. He is a likely favorite on Friday and Saturday at the Texaco/HHSAA State Wrestling Championships in BYU-Hawaii’s Cannon Activities Center.

“I’ve never actually competed in a tournament on the mainland. Probably this summer I want to go. When I’m done with high school, I want to continue in college, too. When that’s all done, I’d want to come back here and help Hawaii wrestling get better as a whole,” Erolin said.

Erolin has no idea what his win-loss record is. Coach Ellis takes a guess.

“Thirty-something and two in two years,” Ellis said.

Therein lies the rub. Proper fundamentals and technical wizardry go very far, but there’s something in national and international competition that brings out the best in athletes. With a 3.7 grade-point average, Erolin is college-bound with or without his sport.

Maybe there has been enough competition in the islands.

This season, his one loss was to Keegan Goeas of Castle, who wrestled at 138 pounds last year. Erolin lost 5-3.

“He got a late takedown in the first period, and two seconds left, I got out, so it was 2-1. He rolled me out the whole second period. He chose bottom in the third and he got out, but he tried to ankle pick me and I hit him with the slide-by, and it tied at 3,” Erolin said. “Then he went down and got an escape and it was 4-3. I tried taking him down at the end of the period, but I think both of my attacks were called out of bounds. He did a great job of holding center. He was in my face the whole match.”

Erolin’s mindset and focus were tested.

“I had to get over it. My coach told me that this loss can bother me that whole day, but once that day’s over, it’s done. That loss made me work that much harder,” he said. “Definitely a good learning experience. My coaches had me write down every point from that one match, how we scored and why we scored.”

Erolin’s growth in the sport was built largely by his inner drive, yet it has also thrived because of friendships.

Pac-Five will be well represented at states, though wrestlers will officially be wrestling for their schools, not the conglomerate.

“We have four boys and seven girls who are state qualifiers,” Erolin noted. “Some of them are a little new and some are inexperienced as well. I hope just go out there and wrestle our best and have fun as a team. For some of them, it’s their last year. I just want it to be fun for them, make it a year to remember, bond as a team, and just leave it all on the mat.”

“My former teammate, Stone Franczyk, he’s in college now. We grew up wrestling together. When he was a senior, I was in eighth grade and he would drive us to practice,” Erolin said.

That drive was from Hanalani to the Pac-Five mat at University Lab School, where practice begins at 5:30 p.m.

Erolin grew up in judo with the Mililani Hongwanji Tigers, and wrestling became part of the club too.

“I did judo when I was 4 or 5. We took videos and still watch them. I didn’t know what I was doing at first. I was getting beat up a lot at practice. Wrestling came when I was like 7 or 8. Both sports complement each other. Learning those at a young age helped me a lot. Looking at it now, I’m happy I started young. A lot of people regret not starting early,” Erolin said.

Jaynon Mariano is one of those hanabada-days teammates. Some of the keiki in judo and wrestling back then are now at Kamehameha and Punahou. Some, like Mariano, are at Mililani High School.

“I’ve known Xander my whole life. We pretty much met as newborns. He was always the most athletic and competitive person,” Mariano said. “Me and my family would always go to his house to eat dinner, hang out and have a super fun time. We used to ride our dirt bikes at Kahuku, which we were super into.”

Erolin also wrestled with Avenue Wrestling Club in Nuuanu.

“It’s run by most of the Pac-Five coaches. It’s completely free. All you need is the USA Wrestling Club card,” he said.

The talent and development were Erolin’s alone, but the roots of his success are in a family tradition.

“My mom’s side, my grandpa and his siblings wrestled,” he said. “My mom (Chantell) did judo. I know my grandpa taught her a little bit.”

Uncle Tom Shiroma was the 167-pound state champion for Saint Louis in 1972. His grandfather, Mike Shiroma, wrestled at Campbell, and then in college.

“He’s a sensei for Pac-Five judo now. He taught me a lot growing up. He taught me a little bit about wrestling, but mostly judo,” Erolin said. “He taught me how to drive.”

“I didn’t know that,” coach Ellis said. “He never talked about that.”

Erolin carries on another tradition — driving to practice now that he has a license.

Erolin is not standing pat after winning the state title.

“I’ve been working on my outside step. My coach and I have been working on that the past two, three years. I don’t really see it too often here,” he said.

After years of the daily grind, Erolin carries the same mantra as those before him: Action first.

“I try not to be telling people what to do. I try to show people what we’re supposed to do. I don’t think anybody needs to be bossed around. I just try to lead by example,” he said.

Weight management has been consistently successful. The Erolin ohana plans well.

“My parents make a meal plan for me throughout the week. I pretty much eat the same stuff Monday through Friday, then after the tournament (on the weekend), I can eat not too much, but a little more. Maybe ramen or sushi,” he said. “I tend to snack a lot. I can eat a lot of Goldfish (crackers).”

In the offseason, his walking weight is 160 to 165 pounds.

“My weight management is probably a lot different from other people. I can sweat off 7 or 8 pounds in one practice. I feel good after that. Usually, on Thursday, I put a sweater on and I can sweat it off,” Erolin said.

His metabolism is so fast, Erolin drops pounds without even trying.

“Thursday dinner, it depends on what I weigh, so I’ll eat a little bit of salmon, rice and broccoli. Greek yogurt with granola and honey. I usually go to sleep 1.5 pounds over and sleep it off. I can go to sleep at 156 and make weight (154) the next day,” Erolin said.

After the state tourney, he will enjoy some down time with family.

“My family and I are actually going to Japan. We’ve been there a couple times. We really like it there. We may go snowboarding. We really enjoy the people and the food, the culture as a whole,” Erolin said.

His favorite wrestler is in Japan.

“Takuto Otoguro. He’s a freestyle wrestler,” Erolin said. “I like his style. Freestyle is all on his feet. He’s just real fluid and I just like replicating that in my wrestling, too.”

Sometimes, it takes a friend to make the biggest impact.

“Xander will always listen to a problem you have and find a solution. He’ll always be friendly to everyone no matter what, and is one of the most fun guys to hang around with,” Mariano said. “No matter how successful he is, he’s always humble, and remains the same funny and hard-working guy he’s always been.”

Xander Erolin

Hanalani wrestler • 2022 state champion (152 weight class)

>> Top 3 movies/shows: 1. “Kung Fu Panda,” 2. “Maze Runner,” 3. “Fast and The Furious” “I like Fast and the Furious one through six.”

>> Top 3 food/snacks/drinks: 1. Chicken katsu curry (Genki Ramen), 2. sushi (Ninja Sushi – Superman), 3. Granola bar. “I like my Nature Valley bar with honey after weigh-ins.”

>> Top 3 homemade foods: 1. Seared salmon, 2. Dad’s pasta, 3. Mom’s Spam musubi “My parents make salmon for me during the week. I used to make the salmon, but since I get home a little late from practice, my parents make it for me.”

>> Favorite class: Physical education “We only have P.E. until ninth grade at my school.”

>> Favorite teacher: Mr. (James) McClure. “He was my P.E. teacher and he’s a real big MMA guy, so he likes talking to me about wrestling and MMA stuff.”

>> Funniest teammate: Josh Arcayena “He graduated already, but last year he was my teammate. He’s real loud, life of the party and the team. He would just get everybody going. He’s cool, too. He’s playing football in college.”

>> Smartest teammate: Jessiah Lum “He also graduated. He’s a Pac-Five coach now. Last year, we wrestled together. He’s majoring in biomechanical engineering. All the classes he took in high school, they just overwhelm me. He graduated from HBA.”

>> Time machine: “I’d probably go back to elementary school. I didn’t have too much things to worry about, just having fun. I’d stay there and maybe experience life one more time. You don’t realize what you have until you’ve done it.”

>> Favorite scripture: John 3:16 “That was the first one I learned and I know it by heart ever since.”

>> New life skill: Driving “I got my license last March. It helps a lot because the drive (from Hanalani in Mililani) to UH Lab is far and it helps my parents out, too.”