The early indicators pointed toward Alex Facundo becoming a lineup fixture at Penn State. 

He was one of the nation’s most-coveted recruits in the Class of  2021 when he signed with the Nittany Lions, and he became their 165-pound starter as a freshman when he went 19-6 and qualified for the NCAA Championships. 

But Facundo wrestled in just six more matches for the Nittany Lions over the course of the next two years. He took an Olympic redshirt in 2024, had the following season cut short by injury, and he entered the transfer portal last spring before landing at Oklahoma State. 

The four-time Michigan state champion has been knocking off the competitive rust during his first several weeks with the Cowboys. He has 10 matches under his belt with seven victories after taking home the title last weekend at the Cougar Clash. 

“His freshman year was almost four years ago, then he Olympic redshirted, and then he got hurt,” Oklahoma State coach David Taylor said. “He’s just missed some time. You can practice your reps, but competition reps are your best practice… I think his last couple matches, he’s starting to click on all cylinders. This weekend, he really started to get the confidence in the reps back and looked really smooth.”

All three of Facundo’s losses came at the National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom. He faced a gauntlet of top opponents in Tulsa, dropping matches against All-Americans Simon Ruiz of Cornell, Matty Singleton of NC State and Patrick Kennedy of Iowa before finishing the weekend with a win against Nebraska All-American Christopher Minto. 

Facundo said he’s already seeing improvement in himself.

“It’s just being active and being busy, it’s going to get better over time,” he said. “It’s been showing over the course of the season so far. We had some tough competition at the National Duals and that’s exactly what I needed just to see where I’m at, see what I need to work on.”

Taylor said Facundo’s steady improvement can be attributed to the live reps he’s receiving in competition. But it can also be attributed to the new situation he’s found himself in. 

Facundo wrestled at 157 pounds during his final season with the Nittany Lions — a season that came to an abrupt end in December due to injury. Now at 174, he said he feels better physically. 

“The cut to 57, that was an experience for sure,” Facundo said. “I started in the summer, I was like 187. I saw an opening, then I decided. I was like, ‘I’m gonna go down.’ It took a lot of discipline. I was always worrying — worrying about my weight, and my body gave out on me. But I feel a lot better at ‘74. It’s my natural weight. You know, stronger, healthier, happier, so that’s good.”

Big 12 Showdown At 157 

The Cowboys will wrestle a conference dual Sunday against #16 West Virginia, featuring a marquee matchup at 157 pounds.

West Virginia’s top-ranked All-American Ty Watters will wrestle Oklahoma State second-ranked freshman phenom Landon Robideau. Robideau has already knocked off an All-American in Stanford’s Daniel Cardenas and two-time blood round finisher Jackson Arrington from NC State. “It’s gonna be a fun match,” Taylor said. “You got the #1, #2 guy in the country, and Watters is tough, Pennsylvania kid, he’s a pretty good scrambler. He had a really good national tournament two years ago, sat out last year, and he’s had a good start to the year. I think Landon’s excited for the opportunity to compete. This will be a good test for Landon.”