Penn State wrestling summer update: Alex Facundo ready for worlds, plus more news and results

Former Penn State standouts Zain Retherford and David Taylor will compete for the United States at the Senior World Championships, Sept. 10-18, in Serbia.

Taylor, who won the world championship in 2019, captured gold at the 2020 Olympics and took silver at the 2021 World Championships, made the World team again by topping former Arizona State two-time national champion Zahid Valencia in the 86-kilogram (189.5-pound) weight class. Taylor won the first two matches of a best-of-three wrestle-off at Final X 2022 in June in New York. 

He has already set plans to train, with the idea of defending his gold medal at the 2024 Olympics.

Taylor is probably headed for a fifth matchup with Iran’s Yazdani Hassan. Taylor bested his rival, the defending world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medalist, in the first round of the 2018 World Championships, overcoming a 6-2 first-period deficit to win 11-6.

In the Tokyo Olympics title match, Taylor prevailed again 4-3, scoring a late takedown to earn the gold medal. He then fell to Yazdani in the finals of the 2021 World Championships, 6-2, ending his 57-match winning streak.

Entering August, Taylor was rated No. 2 and Yazdani No. 1 in the world at 86 kilograms.

Retherford made his third U.S. Senior World Team earlier this summer at 70 kilograms (154 pounds), first by advancing to the finals of the World Team Trials Challenge event and then by beating former Oklahoma State two-time national champion Jordan Oliver at the Final X 2022 Stillwater in a two-out-of-three wrestleoff. Retherford won the first match 9-3, Oliver took the second 5-4 and the former Penn State grappler captured the deciding match 4-3. Retherford is ranked No. 5 for the World Championships.

An update on Jason Nolf

Former three-time Penn State national champion Jason Nolf won five consecutive matches to take gold at the U.S. Senior Open at 74 kilograms (163 pounds) and then won the World Team Trials Challenge tournament, earning the right to face Olympic bronze medalist and three-time world champion Kyle Dake in a best-of-three wrestle-off to earn a lineup position on the U.S. team for the World Championships. Dake claimed the spot, winning two consecutive close matches, 4-2 and 2-1.

How other Penn State wrestlers performed this summer:

Two-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci earned a spot at 79 kilograms (174 pounds) on the U-23 World Team that will compete at the U-23 World Championships, Oct. 17-23, in Spain.

Starocci finished third at the U.S. World Team Trial Challenge, losing only to Chance Marsteller, 5-4 in the quarterfinals. Former Penn State two-time national champion Vicenzo Joseph fell to Marsteller in the best-of-three series to determine who would wrestle world champion Jordan Burroughs at Final X for the top spot on the World Team. Joseph elected not to wrestle Starocci for a true third, giving the Penn State redshirt junior a spot on the U.S. Senior World Team.

Members of the Senior World team receive the first option to wrestle in the World U-23 Championships if they qualify age-wise, which Starocci did.

• Redshirt freshman Alex Facundo is having a terrific summer. He won the U.S. Open U-20 national title at 74 kilograms (163 pounds), beating seven opponents by a combined score of 74-5 and was named the U-20 tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. 

Then in early June at the U-20 World Team Trials, Facundo won the first two matches of a best-of-three wrestle-off, 10-0 and 12-0, to make his third U.S. World Team (he went directly to the wrestle-off as the U.S. Open champ). He captured a bronze medal at the Cadet World Championships in 2018 and 2019.

In early July, Facundo won the 74-kilogram gold medal at the U-20 Pan Am Championships in Mexico, dominating his three opponents, 12-0, 13-0 and by default.

Next up for Facundo are the U-20 World Championships in Bulgaria, Aug. 15-21.

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• Junior Robert Howard, who missed last season with an injury, placed third at the U.S. Open U-20 at 57 kilograms (125 pounds) in April. Howard lost to eventual champion Troy Spratley of Minnesota in his first match of the tournament, then won eight consecutive matches to take third. Howard was 0-2 at the U-20 World Team Challenge Tournament.

• Junior Beau Bartlett placed fifth at the U23 World Team Trials Challenge tournament in the 65-kilogram (143-pound) division.

• After incoming freshman Levi Haines placed third at the U.S. Open U-20 74-kilogram weight, he dropped to 70 kilograms for the World Team U-20 Trails Challenge tournament. He won that event, and in the ensuing best-of-three wrestle-off for a spot on the World Team faced Mitchell Mesenbrink, who is ranked as the No. 1 152-pounder in the nation and won the U.S. Open U-20 crown in the 70-kilogram division. 

Mesenbrink prevailed in two matches over Haines, 2-2 and 7-2. FloWrestling ranks Haines as the No. 7 overall prospect in the senior class and the No. 1 160-pounder in the land.  
Penn State incoming transfer Will Betancourt also took silver at the Pan-American Championships in the 61 kilogram weight class.

Nittany Lions Add Wrestler To 2022 Class 

Penn State has added a final 2022 signee. In late July, Karl Shindledecker, a 126-pounder from Chambersburg, Pa., shared his plans to wrestle for the Lions, joining Levi Haines and Connor Pierce in this year’s incoming freshman class.

Shindledecker was 103-26 at the prep level according to PA-Wrestling.com. He was a three-time Pennsylvania state placer, finishing third as a freshman at 113 pounds; second as a junior, losing in overtime in the final at 120; and seventh as a senior at 126 pounds. 

2023 Class Ranked Third Nationally

FloWrestling has rated the Nittany Lions’ 2023 recruiting class No. 3 in the nation. The class is headlined by 170-pounder Josh Barr (ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect in the class), 120-pounder Braeden Davis (No. 16) and 138-pounder Tyler Kasak (No. 25).

In the final match of the 2022 Michigan Division 1 state tournament, Barr, a two-time state champion, met Manny Rojas, also a two-time state titlist. The pair had split their two matchups during the season, and both were nationally ranked at 170 pounds, Rojas at No. 7 and Barr at No. 10. 

Both had won freestyle gold at the United States Marine Corps Junior Freestyle Championships in Fargo, N.D., the previous summer — Barr at junior 160 and Rojas at junior 170. The Penn State commit won the rubber match 5-2 for his third state title.

Barr picked up a second national freestyle title in July in Fargo, topping Ohio State commit Rocco Welsh 8-5 in the 170-pound final. He entered the match ranked No. 6 in the country at 170 pounds, while Walsh was listed at No. 3. Barr had won a junior national title at 160 pounds in 2021.

Now, Barr is off to FloWrestling’s Who’s Number One event Sept. 9 in Ann Arbor, Mich., which he hopes to win after losing to 2022 Penn State enrollee Levi Haines last year. 

Davis, a native of Dundee, Mich., captured his third consecutive Division 3 state title last winter, taking gold at 119 pounds. He won titles at 112 as a sophomore and 103 as a freshman.

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In 2021, Davis took first in the 113-pound junior freestyle nationals in Fargo. He then placed fourth at 120 in juniors this summer.

Wrestling at 65 kilograms (143.3 pounds), Kasak, who is from Doylestown, Pa., and wrestles at Bethlehem Catholic, was victorious in five consecutive matches in the U.S. Open U-17 division to advance to the best-of-three wrestle-off final against Joel Adams of Nebraska. Adams won the first match. But, Kasak rebounded to take the next two, the championship, and a spot on the U.S. U-17 Freestyle World Team.

Adams, who had beaten Kasak 7-6 in the 138-pound U-16 national championship match in 2021, did earn a spot on the U-17 Greco World Team. He captured the gold medal in the 65-kilogram weight class. 

Kasak won his first three bouts in Rome at the U-17 World Championships in late July. But, he lost 5-3 to llyas Isayev of Azerbaijan in the title event. With the match tied at three, he gave up points on a step-out and a lost challenge that led to the deciding margin. 

Last winter, Kasak finished third in the state at 138 pounds. He won a state title as a sophomore at 126 after taking first as a freshman at 106.

FloWrestling ranks him as the No. 25 overall wrestler in the class of 2023. He projects as a 149- or 157-pounder in college.