Alex Facundo’s Grit-Fueled Gauntlet: Oklahoma State’s 174-Pounder Is Finding His Groove Against Elite Competition
In a season defined by challenges, Oklahoma State’s Alex Facundo hasn’t had the luxury of easing into anything. Nearly every time he’s stepped onto the mat this year, he’s squared off against some of the best the country has to offer - the kind of opponents who’ll be in the mix for All-American honors come March.
Facundo, a Penn State transfer now holding down the 174-pound spot for the Cowboys, has been thrown into the fire - and he’s starting to come out forged. With a 10-4 record on the season, eight of his 14 bouts have come against opponents ranked 11th or higher.
That’s no soft schedule. That’s a trial by fire.
“I remember looking and just being like, ‘Man, he’s gonna have a pretty fun year this year - a lot of challenges,’” head coach David Taylor said. “That’s just part of it sometimes. You really can’t control that stuff, but Alex is doing a good job.”
Facundo’s journey to Stillwater has been anything but linear. Though he’s technically a redshirt junior, his collegiate mat time has been limited.
His only full season in the lineup at Penn State came in 2022-23, where he competed at 165 pounds, went 19-6, and punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships. But between that campaign and his arrival at Oklahoma State, he logged just five matches - and those were down at 157 pounds.
So when he opened this season at the National Duals in November - facing four Top-5 opponents right out of the gate - it wasn’t just a tough draw. It was a crash course in elite-level wrestling after two years of near-inactivity.
Facundo went 1-3 in that stretch, with his lone win coming against Nebraska’s Chris Minto. The two met again in Lincoln earlier this month, and Minto evened the score.
That rematch marked the beginning of yet another brutal stretch: three consecutive matches against Top-10 opponents. This time, though, Facundo looked more settled, more seasoned. He went 2-1 in that run, notching wins over Oklahoma’s Carter Schubert and Missouri’s Cam Steed - the latter a gritty 2-1 decision that earned him Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors.
Against unranked opponents, Facundo hasn’t just won - he’s dominated. In six bouts against unranked wrestlers, he’s racked up five technical falls and a major decision. That kind of separation shows what he’s capable of when he’s not being tested by the nation’s best - and it’s a reminder of the ceiling he’s working toward.
And the grind doesn’t let up this weekend. Oklahoma State hosts Northern Iowa on Friday and Iowa State on Sunday - two more chances for Facundo to prove he belongs in the national conversation.
Northern Iowa’s Jared Simma, ranked No. 12 and sporting a 10-4 record, is first up. These two were slated to meet in the Cougar Clash final back in December, but Simma was a medical forfeit. Sunday brings Iowa State’s MJ Gaitan, ranked 13th and sitting at 9-2 on the year.
In other words, the gauntlet continues.
“You think about he hasn’t competed frequently for the last three or four years, so this is his first real season in quite a long time,” Taylor said. “So, as he’s adjusting, almost like he’s approaching it like a freshman, I think that’s kind of where his progression has been this year in terms of just getting back in that routine.”
Taylor sees the growth happening in real time. It’s in the way Facundo carries himself, the way he’s starting to find rhythm on the mat, and the way he’s capitalizing on his scoring opportunities.
“His last couple matches, just the way he’s trying to carry himself, and he’s starting to hit a little bit of growth,” Taylor added. “Kind of talked about that this week.
You gotta run with those things. When you get some growth in wrestling, you don’t get them all the time.
When you get them, you gotta make the most of them.”
Facundo’s still developing, still finding his footing in a weight class loaded with talent. But what’s becoming clear is that he’s not just surviving these matchups - he’s starting to thrive in them. And if he keeps trending upward, come March, he might not just be facing All-Americans - he might be one.