MADISON, Wisconsin — Creeping onto the mat, loosening the bulging muscles around his black singlet, Gabe Arnold dropped to his knees at the “W” in the middle, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He thanked God for the opportunity to wrestle at the Wisconsin Field House — an opportunity that ended in a lightning-quick victory.
But as his opponent, Wisconsin’s Dylan Russo, hustled out to the mat, the calming demeanor shifted. The fifth-ranked 184-pound Hawkeye was already set in the neutral position, his right arm hanging out before him by the time Russo arrived. He paid no mind to Russo, only to the open space before him.
“Whenever I get out there in the middle of the mat, I’m just there, and I don’t really see my opponent until that whistle blows,” Arnold said. “That’s just my tunnel vision or the way I see things … It’s my way of focusing, just how I operate.”…