NCAA Champion Figueroa to Transfer to Oklahoma State

Now, for the second past NCAA champion of the day to announce his transfer intentions! Earlier today, AJ Ferrari announced that he was moving from CSU Bakersfield to North Carolina - now Richie Figueroa will be transferring from Arizona State to Oklahoma State. 

Figueroa is coming off a junior season where he went 15-4 and finished third in the Big 12 at 125 lbs, before going 1-2 in Philadelphia at the NCAA Championships. He also missed almost two months in the middle of the season due to an injury. 

In 2024, Figueroa was Arizona State’s full-time starter for the first time and came out atop a 125 lb weight class that was as chaotic as any weight in recent memory. Figueroa won the Pac-12 Championship and was given the #8 seed at nationals. He proceeded to take out Patrick McKee, Braeden Davis, and Anthony Noto just to make the finals. For the national championship, Figueroa defeated Iowa’s Drake Ayala, 7-2. 

While splitting time with Brandon Courtney in 2022-23, Figueroa captured a Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational title and had a perfect 14-0 record. 

Figueroa came to Arizona State after being tabbed the #3 overall recruit in the high school Class of 2021. In 2018, Figueroa made the Cadet World finals - a year later, he made the team, but did not medal. In the summer of 2021, Figueroa competed at the U20 World Championships and finished 12th. 

With the presence of 2025 NCAA runner-up Troy Spratley in the Cowboy lineup, it is assumed that Figueroa intends on moving up to 133 lbs for the 2025-26 campaign. 133 lbs could have been the only spot in the Oklahoma State lineup without a clear-cut starter. Spratley and Figueroa clashed during a dual meet in the 2023-24 season and Spratley won via major decision. 

The transfer portal has been very kind to the Cowboys again in 2025. Last year, they netted three multi-time All-Americans - two of which went on to win national titles. This time, they’ve added Figueroa and fellow All-American Casey Swiderski. Coming over from Penn State are Alex Facundo and Zack Ryder; both multi-time age group world medalists, along with Gary Steen, who will add depth to the lightweights. 

It’s safe to say that we’ve never had a pair of returning national champions transfer on the same day. This portal/transfer season has been crazy already - I’m sure more is set to come.