Wrestlers · College
Xochitl Mota-Pettis
2x UIL girls' state champion for Klein; 2023 U.S. Open champion; Quincy wrestling's first national champion, NCAA 2026 at 124 pounds
Humble, TX · Klein HS · Quincy
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 23, 2026
Xochitl Mota-Pettis grew up in Humble, Texas, and wrestled for Klein High School. She reached three UIL Class 6A girls' state finals. She won at 119 pounds in 2017 by pinning Rosie Ramirez of La Joya. She lost the 2018 final at 128 pounds to Alex Liles of Allen, then won at 128 pounds in 2019 with an 11-0 major decision over Clarissa Archuleta of Rockwall Heath.
In 2018 she won junior national titles in both freestyle and folkstyle. She graduated from Klein in 2019, the year the National Wrestling Hall of Fame gave her a Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award.
She won the 2023 U.S. Open at 57 kg, about 126 pounds, wrestling for Rise RTC. That sent her to Final X against Helen Maroulis of the Sunkist Kids for the World team spot, and Maroulis won the series two matches to none. At the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials USA Wrestling pre-seeded her first in the 57 kg challenge tournament, and she lost in the semifinals to Alex Hedrick of Titan Mercury.
She started college at Missouri Valley in Marshall, Missouri. As a freshman at the 2025 NAIA championships in Park City, Kansas, she reached the 131-pound final with three technical falls and a pin of second-seeded Mercy Adekuoroye of Wayland Baptist. Jumoke Adekoye of Dickinson State won the final 5-3.
She transferred to Quincy for the spring 2026 semester and went 11-1. She won the 124-pound title at NCAA Regional 5, then went 4-0 at the first NCAA women's championships at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. Seeded third, she beat fourth-seeded Shelby Moore of McKendree 10-0 in the final. She is the first national champion in Quincy wrestling history and the school's second individual national champion in any sport.
She is the NCAA champion at 124 pounds and a junior at Quincy, listed at 131 pounds for the new season.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | High school | UIL girls' state championships, Class 6A | 119 lb | 1st | She won the final by fall in 3:02 over Rosie Ramirez (La Joya). The UIL results page spells her first name Xochiti. |
| 2017-18 | High school | UIL girls' state championships, Class 6A | 128 lb | 2nd | Alex Liles (Allen) won the final by a 9-1 major decision. |
| 2018 | Age group | Junior Freestyle Nationals | 1st | The National Wrestling Hall of Fame records her 2018 junior national titles in both freestyle and folkstyle. | |
| 2018 | Age group | Junior Folkstyle Nationals | 1st | Her folkstyle junior national title came the same year as her freestyle title. | |
| 2018-19 | High school | UIL girls' state championships, Class 6A | 128 lb | 1st | She won the final by an 11-0 major decision over Clarissa Archuleta (Rockwall Heath), her second state title and third final. |
| 2023 | Senior | U.S. Open | 57 kg | 1st | USA Wrestling lists her as the 2023 U.S. Open champion from Humble, Texas, wrestling for Rise RTC, which earned her a Final X series at 57 kg. |
| 2023 | Senior | Final X | 57 kg | 2nd | 0-2. Helen Maroulis (Sunkist Kids) won the best-of-three series two matches to none, the first by fall in 2:12 and the second by a 10-0 technical fall. |
| 2024 | Senior | U.S. Olympic Team Trials | 57 kg | USA Wrestling pre-seeded her first in the challenge tournament. Alex Hedrick (Titan Mercury) beat her in the challenge semifinals. | |
| 2024-25 | College | NAIA Women's Wrestling National Championships, Park City | 131 lb | 2nd | 4-1. Seeded third as a Missouri Valley freshman. She teched Keira Nartatez (Midland) and Hannah Seitzinger (Indiana Tech) 10-0 and Olivia Mottley (Life) 12-1, pinned second-seeded Mercy Adekuoroye (Wayland Baptist) at 4:42, and lost the final 5-3 to fifth-seeded Jumoke Adekoye (Dickinson State). |
| 2025-26 | College | NCAA Regional 5 | 124 lb | 1st | 3-0. Two falls and a technical fall. She was the second regional champion in Quincy women's wrestling history. |
| 2025-26 | College | NCAA Championships, Coralville | 124 lb | 1st | 4-0. The first NCAA women's wrestling championships, March 6 and 7, 2026. Three technical falls and a fall, with three wins over ranked opponents. Seeded third, she beat fourth-seeded Shelby Moore (McKendree) 10-0 in the final. She finished her first Quincy season 11-1. |
What we could not confirm
Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it to the operator, Joe Spisak, at joe@spisak.co and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://quhawks.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/xochitl-mota-pettis/9909 · Quincy University roster biography. It records her midseason transfer, an 11-1 record at 124 pounds, the NCAA Regional 5 title and a 4-0 run to the 124-pound national title at the first NCAA women's championships. The 2026-27 roster lists her as a junior at 131 pounds.
- https://quhawks.com/news/2026/3/8/womens-wrestling-historic-day-for-quincy-womens-wrestling-as-mota-pettis-captures-national-title.aspx · Quincy University recap, March 8, 2026. She entered the national championships as the No. 3 seed and beat fourth-seeded Shelby Moore of McKendree by a 10-0 technical fall in the 124-pound final. She became the second Quincy athlete in any sport to win an individual national title.
- https://muddyriversports.com/college/humble-approach-lands-qus-mota-pettis-atop-podium-as-national-wrestling-champion/20260313190356/ · Muddy River Sports, March 2026. Her hometown of Humble, Texas, the 10-0 final over Shelby Moore of McKendree at Xtream Arena, and her place as Quincy wrestling's first national champion. It also covers her 2025 season at Missouri Valley and her move to Quincy for the spring 2026 semester.
- https://www.ncaa.com/video/wrestling-women/2026-03-08/xochitl-mota-pettis-vs-shelby-moore-2026-ncaa-womens-wrestling-championships-124-lbs · NCAA.com video of the 2026 final at 124 pounds, where third-seeded Xochitl Mota-Pettis beat fourth-seeded Shelby Moore 10-0.
- https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/4602 · National Wrestling Hall of Fame, 2019 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award. Two-time Texas state champion and three-time finalist for Klein, with 2018 junior national titles in freestyle and folkstyle.
- https://www.uiltexas.org/wrestling/state-results/2016-2017-girls-wrestling-state-results · UIL girls' state results, 2016-17, Class 6A, 119 pounds.
- https://www.uiltexas.org/wrestling/state-results/2017-2018-girls-wrestling-state-results · UIL girls' state results, 2017-18, Class 6A, 128 pounds.
- https://www.uiltexas.org/wrestling/state-results/2018-2019-girls-wrestling-state-results · UIL girls' state results, 2018-19, Class 6A, 128 pounds.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2023/june/27/maroulis-v-mota-pettis-special-wrestle-off · USA Wrestling, June 2023, on the Final X series at 57 kg between Helen Maroulis and 2023 U.S. Open champion Xochitl Mota-Pettis of Rise RTC.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/april/11/olympic-trials-preview-maroulis-chasing-record-third-olympic-berth-at-57-kg · USA Wrestling's 2024 Olympic Trials preview at 57 kg. Maroulis beat Mota-Pettis two matches to none in the 2023 Final X series, by fall in 2:12 and by a 10-0 technical fall.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/april/15/women-s-freestyle-pre-seeds-released-for-u-s-olympic-team-trials-wrestling · USA Wrestling's pre-seeds for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, with Mota-Pettis first in the 57 kg challenge tournament.
- https://sports.yahoo.com/u-olympic-wrestling-trials-2024-231820324.html · Results from the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, including the 57 kg challenge semifinals.
- https://www.valleywillroll.com/sports/wwrest/2024-25/releases/20250315yxya9q · Missouri Valley College's recap of the 2025 NAIA championships, with her match-by-match run to the 131-pound final.
- https://www.kmmo.com/2025/03/17/corbett-mota-pettis-national-runners-up-as-valley-wrestlers-finish-fifth/ · KMMO, March 2025. The NAIA championships were held in Park City, Kansas, and Jumoke Adekoye of Dickinson State won the 131-pound final 5-3.
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