Penn State Wrestling: Inside the Singlet – Wrestler Profiles for 157 and 165

Alex Facundo

Year: Redshirt Freshman
Weight: 165
Major: Division of Undergraduate Studies
Hometown: Essexville, Mich.

Penn State Career

Facundo had a busy true freshman season last year where he took part in 15 matches spread out between the Clarion Open, Southern Scuffle, and Mat Town Open.

So far during the 2022-2023 season, Alex has been a mainstay in the starting lineup and he has competed in seven regular season dual matches and three matches in the Black Knight Invite where he won the title at 165.

Prior to Penn State

Facundo attended Davison High School where he was a four time Michigan State Champion. He also had undefeated seasons in both his freshman and senior campaigns and helped lead Davison to the team state title in 2021.

When named the recipient in 2021, Alex became only the second wrestler in Michigan state history to win the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.

Facundo competed in the Who’s #1 All-Star event three times between the span of 2018 and 2020 and he was also a two time member of the U.S. Cadet World team.

In an interview Alex did with Rokfin, he explains why he made the choice to wrestle for Cael Sanderson and the Nittany Lions.

“I chose Penn State because of the accomplishments that they have achieved and the coaching staff. They have the best coaches in the nation and the world. One big factor that helped make my decision was that I haven’t seen a wrestler enter this room and not improve.”

Facundo took up wrestling at five years old and according to his parents, it was to simply keep him out of trouble. And what started out as an activity to maintain Alex on the straight and narrow, snowballed into a passion and his skills progressed more and more.

“My favorite memory when I was a youth wrestler was placing at my first national tournament. I placed 5th at Tulsa Nationals when I was 8 and it was awesome because it showed that I am somewhat good at wrestling!”

But wrestling wasn’t the only sport he played. Between the ages of 4-9 he played baseball and he even played football in middle school. By eighth grade Facundo saw the potential he had in wrestling and at that point he decided to drop the other sports and fully pursue it.

Away from the wrestling room Alex enjoys lifting weights and just staying active in general. Unlike a fairly large portion of the current roster, he says he’s not much of a video gamer and he’s also not much of a social person. It’s the constant pursuit of perfection for Facundo, “I like to work out and keep trying to reach physical perfection.”

But Alex does enjoy a good superhero, action, or war movie. And his music playlist has grown in variety as he said it used to consist only of rap. But now it’s branched out to alternative, cinematic, reggaeton, and Mexican music.

"“My childhood heroes and heroes currently are my parents. They will always be my heroes no matter what. They have been through so much and still had the drive to raise two respectful boys and make sure that they did not fall to the system.” -Alex Facundo"

Facundo is not exactly a top notch chef in the kitchen but he can cook a decent chicken and rice meal due to how easy it is to make and how much he enjoys it. His real passion around lunch and dinner is Mexican food and pastas. He loves spaghetti and chicken parmesan.

His father, Pablo Facundo, makes really good street tacos and Alex says it gives his usual go-to Mexican staples, enchiladas and tamales, a run for their money.

Alex describes himself as neat and tidy when it comes to his living accommodations. Which tends to help when you have a roommate who’s only rule is to have your room look and smell good. The cleaner the room, the more productive they feel they can be.

Man, I wish I lived with these guys in college.

Facundo says the biggest skill he has that would surprise people is his flexibility. “I am very flexible,” adds Facundo, “which makes me a better wrestler and difficult for others.”