USA’s collegiate wrestling world was left in total awe as Gabe Arnold dominated Ryder Rogotzke at the Ohio State – Iowa Dual. No doubt, Arnold has been on the rise ever since he stepped into the 2024 preseason mats. However, there was one peculiar thing about the Iowa star. And it was the way he wore his knee pads. Netizens began calling him out, and even Chael Sonnen wondered about it being a subtle cheating method.
‘The Bad Guy’ took to Instagram and shared a video wherein he said, “So I always got this cheater. Supposedly. I don’t know if it’s true or not. But this guy is cheating. Gabe Arnold. He’s the U20 star, he’s been calling out Carter Starocci. But Gabe has been doing some kind of trick with his knee pad. He puts the knee pad on, but then he turns it the other way.”
Arnold wears the knee pad in such a way that the thick padding goes up on his popliteal fossa. ‘The American Gangster’ revealed that people claimed that this move made him more explosive and problematic to grab. He continued, “The guy is dirty. It’s a dirty, filthy move.” He wanted to ask somebody about it and surprisingly, Arnold was right there beside him. And Sonnen wasted no time in throwing the question at the U20 wrestler. He asked, “Are you cheating with that knee pad? Are you using that knee pad to be cheating?”
But Arnold has been doing that to overcome his meniscus injuries. A torn meniscus is way too common in martial arts, and having undergone treatment to repair the torn meniscus, an athlete loses his range of motion in the legs. And the Iowa star has found a way to counter that. He replied, “So, I turn it backwards because the bulky part of the knee pad, so I’ve torn my meniscus a few times and a part of it is missing. So, it basically just gives me an extra buffer so that when I’m like in scrambles and stuff like that, I’m able to go fight on back on my knee and stuff like that.”
Chael Sonnen recounted his own meniscus injury as he acknowledged the fact that he knew Arnold wasn’t cheating in any way. But when the U20 star found the video on Instagram, he took to the comments and wrote, “Uncle Chael is exposing my secrets…” However, knee injuries aren’t the only battles that Arnold was fighting.
How does Gabe Arnold view the competition at collegiate wrestling?
Institutes at collegiate wrestling championships have multiple athletes on their roster. This means that the officials can swap wrestlers in and out as they need, with just one wrestler as their regular. And this treatment often gives rise to hostile rivalries within the team. But Arnold has a different opinion on that. He was simply happy about some friendly competition when he was rivaled against Angelo Ferrari, another 184 lbs wrestler from the Hawkeyes.
Talking to the Hawk Central, Arnold said, “Of course, there’s tension, of course, everybody wants to be the guy… You say you want to be the best, but you shy away from competition when you got a guy chasing the same goal as you. I don’t know about you guys, but I f—ing love it.”
Arnold also focuses on his mental health. And the shoutout went to his parents, his head coach Tom Brands, and of course, his peers. With the doubt regarding his inverted knee pads out of our minds, let’s wait and watch how far the Hawkeye can go in the realm of wrestling.
What do you think of Arnold’s sneaky trick? Do you think it’s effective enough to counter the shortcomings of multiple meniscus injuries? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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