August 2004

Asashoryu Passes Tough Nagoya Challenge

Junior Division Yusho Winners

   
Asashoryu Passes Tough Nagoya Challenge
1978 Kitanoumi Record in Reach
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

The sultry, sticky heat that usually hangs over central Japan in summertime might have been bothersome to many.  Perhaps by coming to the expansive Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium for the 2004 Nagoya Basho, they were hoping for a cool respite from the swelter.

But yokozuna-East ASASHORYU, born and raised with Mongolia’s more severe weather extremes, had other ideas in mind – and promptly turned up the heat on the rest of the field by winning his first ten matches.  This included a day 3 force-out of Mongolian maegashira #1-East KYOKUTENHO (who had bested him in May) and a day 9 force-out of sekiwake #1-West HOKUTORIKI (who had broken his early-season rensho at 34 wins).  When SHORYU pushed down maegashira #7-East MIYABIYAMA on day 10, the race for the Cup seemed to be his for the taking.  But then he encountered sekiwake #2-West TOCHIAZUMA, who had been demoted due to a series of injuries that had kept him off the tournament dohyo.  Tamanoi Oyakata’s son/heir knew this would (essentially) be his only chance to regain ozeki ranking with 10 or more wins, so he fought as if his very status as a sekitori was on the line – and it paid off, as he pushed the mighty Mongol down to his first loss.  MIYABIYAMA was unable to immediately capitalize on SHORYU’s misfortune:  he was thrown by another Mongolian, maegashira #8-East HAKUHO (whose win over HOKUTORIKI in May made his countryman’s playoff win possible).  When SHORYU was topped by sekiwake #1-East WAKANOSATO the following day, it apparently became a two-man dash for the Cup.  But AZUMA stuck his finger in again, giving MIYABI the hikiotoshi treatment on day 14 for his 10th win and ‘re-promotion’ to ozeki for the Aki Basho.  Meanwhile SHORYU took it straight to all three current ozeki and bested them all by yorikiri in the final stretch for a second straight 13-2 record, his fourth consecutive Tenno-Hai for 2004, and yusho number eight in his still-developing career.

At this point in 1978, 55th yokozuna Kitanoumi had a win/loss record of 57-3 and had won all four yusho for the year.  He would win the Aki Basho with a 14-1 outing.   But in Fukuoka, he fell to 56th yokozuna Wakanohana II’s zensho effort and posted an 11-4 to establish a still-standing single-year record of 82 wins and 8 losses.  With the 2004 sumo year two-thirds done, SHORYU’s aggregate record stands at 56-4.  Can the “Mongolian Express” set a new single-year mark?  Even more intriguing:  could he become the first rikishi to win all six yusho in a calendar year?  (See related articles.)

All three currently-ranked ozeki re-set their grips on their current banzuke positions.  But none of them demonstrated any capacity to carve out a place alongside SHORYU at the top of the sumo pyramid.  #1-East KAIO had a strong outing, but was never in the race for the yusho due to a shonichi loss to komusubi-East KOTOMITSUKI.  Subsequent losses to TENHO and maegashira #4-East SHIMOTORI cemented the Tomozuna strongman into a trailing role he was unable to break out of:  he finished at 11-4.  Eight wins in the first nine days was a great start for #1-West CHIYOTAIKAI.  But three losses in the next four days relegated Kokonoe’s “Round Mound” to an also-ran slot at 10-5.  After going 1‑3 to start matters, #2-East MUSOYAMA rolled out seven consecutive wins to go 8-3 and lift his latest kadoban.  This was followed by an almost-predictable collapse:  Musashigawa’s senior deshi lost his next three, did not answer the bell on senshuraku and finished at a ‘bare-bones’ 8-7.  So there will once again be four ozeki on the Aki banzuke, and none of them will be under immediate demotion threat – not this time, anyway.

TOCHIAZUMA opened with seven triumphs in the first eight days and battled his way to an 8-2 before his match with SHORYU.  After toppling the yokozuna he lost his next two torikumi before knocking off MIYABIYAMA:  his final mark was 10-5.  Except for his win over SHORYU, WAKANOSATO did not look like a potential ozeki this time out.  He lost to Georgian maegashira #2-East KOKKAI on opening day, fought inconsistently throughout the basho, was knocked off by poorly-performing HOKUTORIKI on senshuraku and finished with an 8-7.  RIKI is the only rikishi to win a kinboshi this sumo year; but he must have used up all of his good karma in Tokyo two months ago.  It was day 10 before he finally won a match, and that did not even turn things around as he finished with a 3-12 drubbing on his books.  Neither komusubi was able to hold his ground:  KOTOMITSUKI could only manage to go 7-8 while West-sider TAMANOSHIMA finished at 6-9.

MIYABIYAMA posted nine wins to open the tournament, which earned him his shot at SHORYU.  The former ozeki’s 12-3 record tied him with #14-East TOYOZAKURA for jun-yusho honors as well as top maegashira performance.  TOYOZAKURA hauled in the Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) for his fortnight-plus-one’s work.  Other noteworthy hiramaku efforts:

#4-East SHIMOTORI (9-6)
#6-West TOCHINONADA (9-6)
HAKUHO (Mongolia) (11-4)
#10-West ASASEKIRYU (Mongolia) (11-4)
#11-East TOSANOUMI (11-4)
#15-West FUTENO (10-5)

The Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) and Gino-Sho (Technique Prize) were not awarded.  There were no kinboshi.

In the Juryo, #8-West KITAZAKURA opened with nine wins for the early lead.  But he was eventually overhauled by Bulgaria’s #3-East KOTOOSHU, who went on to take the division championship with a 13-2 record and earn a place under the Kokugikan’s ‘bright lights’ in September.  KITAZAKURA finished at 11-4.  The honorable mentions:

#1-East ROHO (Russia) (10-5)
#1-West TAMAKASUGA (11-4)
#2-West TAKANOTSURU (9-6)
#4-East TOYONOSHIMA (11-4)
#9-East AMA (Mongolia) (9-6)
#13-East KOTOSHOGIKU (10-5)

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JUNIOR DIVISION YUSHO WINNERS

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Kotomitsuki Gets California Koenkai
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

We presume that many of our readers are familiar with "Sister City" programs.  In a sister-city program, a city in the United States has a special relationship with a city in another country.  Typically, the sister-city is one of comparable size and nature to its American sister.  (For instance:  Long Beach, California, a major seaport, has a number of sister cities, all of them seaports.  Long Beach's sister city in Japan is the port of Yokaichi in Aichi Prefecture.)

We were recently contacted by a gentleman in Newport Beach, CA.  Newport Beach has its own sister city in Japan, the city of Okazaki, also in Aichi Prefecture.  This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the relationship between Newport Beach and Okazaki.  To mark the occasion, a delegation from Newport Beach went to Okazaki this past April.

Okazaki is the birthplace of KOTOMITSUKI, the current heyagashira (senior sumotori) of Sadogatake Beya.  He won the 2001 Aki Basho, and is currently ranked at komusubi-East on the Nagoya banzuke.  As it turns out, one of the leaders of the Okazaki-Newport Beach sister-city program is a Dr. Okada, a major sponsor of KOTOMITSUKI.  As a result, the Newport Beach group was able to meet KOTOMITSUKI.

The members of the Newport Beach-Okazaki sister-city group have decided to start a KOTOMITSUKI fan club.  They contacted us for information, which we were happy to supply.  The Okazaki delegation is scheduled to come here in November.  Interested parties can send an e-mail to info@sumoshimpo.com and we will let the folks in Newport Beach know.

One last thing:  do they know that a koenkai is supposed to supply their rikishi with a kesho-mawashi?

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Is the NASC Obsolete?
Commentary by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

The recurring snafus in the negotiations for the 2004 North American Sumo Championship (NASC) in Montréal have culminated in its cancellation less than two months before it was supposed to be held.  Part of this might have been due to the pullout of Dunlop Tires (Canada) as a sponsor after two years.  It was Dunlop’s sponsorship presence that committed the North American Sumo Federation (NASF) to stage the NASC in a major Canadian city for a third consecutive year.

Please do not misunderstand.  Reports indicate that the 2002 event in Toronto was well attended and the competitors were generally pleased with the way things worked.  For his part, this writer had a great time at the Vancouver competition in 2003 (although the tourney was actually in Steveston, a seaside community in Richmond which, in turn, is a municipality of V-town).  But the entire business of tying the NASC to some “Games of the World” event in Montréal became an entirely unnecessary complication that ultimately made things completely unworkable.  (What were they trying to do – make it into “Sumo du Soleil”?  Merde alors! – Ed.)

This writer’s concern is that there has not been any apparent long-term planning in staging the NASC:  it seems there is no serious thought about the next year’s event until after the current one takes place!  Now an Olympic lead-time of six years is hardly necessary.  But long before this writer ever entered the amateur sumo world, he has been a member of science-fiction fandom.  And he has observed that major science-fiction conventions operate on a cycle where (if the current year is “X”) organizing committees get their waterfowl well and truly aligned, then put together bid packages to host the convention in the future.  These bid packages are then submitted to the people who are attending or supporting the convention in “X” for their vote.  The bid that receives the most votes wins the right to host the convention three years from “X”.  If thinking ahead works for sci-fi, it can work for amateur sumo as well.  Two years should be the minimum:  three years would be on the ‘long end’.

Another point.  The NASC originally came into being to select competitors from throughout North America and the Caribbean to compete in the World Championships.  At the time this was happening, the Japan Sumo Federation was paying travel expenses to bring the qualifiers to the Worlds (which, at the time, were always in Japan).  This is no longer the case:  competitors use their own resources, or those of their national or local sumo organizations, to cover travel costs to wherever the Worlds are being held.

When it comes to sumo the European Union is not united; no way, no how.  Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Belarus, Russia and the Georgia Republic have all sent their own wrestlers to the Worlds.  With the significant growth in amateur sumo throughout the United States (as evidenced by the number of sumo clubs, the number of local and regional tournaments, and the number of permanent dohyo being built) it may well be high time to discard a single North American qualifying tournament and go strictly along national lines ourselves.  The United States is going to select its representatives for Riesa at the United States Sumo Championships on September 18th in Las Vegas.  If the Canadians, the Mexicans and the Caribbean nations want to compete in the Worlds they can either hold their own qualifying tournaments; or come to Vegas and use their performances there to determine which of their sumotori will go to Saxony.

Mongols Conquer China Again!
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

This seems to be the Nihon Sumo Kyokai's year for hitting the Asian mainland.  Having gone to Seoul and Pusan in Korea in February, in June they traveled to Beijing and Shanghai.  This trip marked the first time since 1973 that Grand Sumo had been to mainland China.  In addition to two-day tournaments in each city, the sumotori visited the Great Wall of China and Tianenmen Square.  They also sampled the local fare (as one would expect).

The tournaments were standard jungyo format:  single-elimination with the first day’s winner meeting the second day’s winner for the championship.

Thirty-five rikishi answered the bell for the first day in Beijing.  After the preliminary rounds we had ASASHORYU defeating KAIHO by uwatenage, WAKANOSATO besting IWAKIYAMA by yorikiri, MUSOYAMA over KYOKUTENHO by yorikiri and CHIYOTAIKAI taking TAKAMISAKARI by tsukidashi.  The first semi-final saw ASASHORYU throw WAKANOSATO by uwatenage and CHIYOTAIKAI push out MUSOYAMA by tsukiotoshi.  CHIYOTAIKAI took the day over ASASHORYU by kotenage.

Day two saw four Mongolians in the quarter-final.  In the first match, ASASHORYU pushed out KOTOMITSUKI by oshidashi, ASASEKIRYU bested fellow Mongolian KYOKUTENHO by okuridashi, TAKAMISAKARI forced out TAMANOSHIMA by yorikiri and HAKUHO (fresh off denying HOKUTORIKI the outright yusho at Natsu Basho) beating KAKIZOE by uwatenage.  Semifinal action started with ASASHORYU beating ASASEKIRYU by yoritaoshi and HAKUHO over TAKAMISAKARI by yorikiri.  The day’s championship went to ASASHORYU, who beat HAKUHO by yorikiri.  He then bested CHIYOTAIKAI by yorikiri for the Beijing title.

The following weekend in Shanghai started with a familiar pattern:  ASASHORYU beating ASASEKIRYU by yorikiri to take the first semifinal.  The other semifinal saw TAKAMISAKARI defeat TOKITSUUMI by yorikiri.  ASASHORYU won the day’s championship by uwatenage.

The final day saw KYOKUSHUZAN make the quarterfinals with an upset hatakikomi win over fellow Mongolian ASASHORYU.  He then bested TAKAMISAKARI by tsukidashi.  KOTOMITSUKI advanced to the other upper bracket semifinal with a win over WAKANOSATO by shitatenage.  In the lower bracket, HAKUHO beat MIYABIYAMA by yorikiri and CHIYOTAIKAI, in a change of pace for him, threw TOSANOUMI by uwatenage.  An all-Mongolian final was assured when KYOKUSHUZAN beat KOTOMITSUKI by hatakikomi and HAKUHO tossed CHIYOTAIKAI by uwatenage.  In the day’s final, HAKUHO forced KYOKUSHUZAN out by yorikiri.  He then went on to take ASASHORYU by abisetaoshi for the Shanghai title.

Thanks to the esteemed Matsuzaki-san for the statistics for this article.

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A Tale of Two Konishiki
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

As I'm sure you all know, there are only two types of athletes who live in stables:  race horses and professional sumotori.

To the best of my knowledge, no two race horses ever share the same name.  Sumo shikona, on the other hand, do get recycled from time to time.  Recent examples include 65th yokozuna Takanohana and 66th yokozuna Wakanohana, who got their shikona from their father and uncle, respectively.  Another example is current ozeki TOCHIAZUMA, whose father bore the same shikona when he was active.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the recent career of Hawaiian-born Konishiki, the heaviest rikishi in the history of professional sumo (amateur Manny Yarbrough is heavier).  But did you know that he shares the name with an earlier KONISHIKI?

What makes this interesting to me is the contrast between the two KONISHIKIs.  Yokozuna Konishiki I, who competed from 1883 to 1901 as a member of Takasago Beya, was one of the smallest yokozuna at 168 cm. (5' 6") and 143 kg. (315 lbs.).  Moto-ozeki Konishiki II, by contrast, stood 185 cm. (6' 3/4") and weighed 278 kg. (613 lbs.).  In fact, towards the end of his career, Sumo Digest listed him at 621 lbs., almost twice as much as Konishiki I.  Of course, Konishiki II also competed for Takasago Beya.

The Sumo “Grand Slam”:  Is It Possible?
Commentary by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

Tiger Woods is lauded (and rightly so) for holding the trophies for all four PGA major championships (Masters, US Open, British Open, PGA Championship) at the same time.  This has been referred to as a “Tiger Slam”.  Andre Agassi has a “career slam” in tennis, because he has won all four major tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open) at least once in his career.  And Annika Sorenstam has won all four LPGA majors at least once in her career (a “Soren-slam”?)

But by definition, a true “Grand Slam” means winning all of a sport’s major championships in a single calendar year, January 1 to December 31.  In golf, no player has ever won all four of the current PGA majors in the same year.  Amateur Bobby Jones won the U.S. and British Opens, and the U.S. and British Amateurs, in 1930.  Ben Hogan did not enter the 1953 PGA Championship after winning the Masters, US Open and British Open earlier that year.  Five men have PGA “career slams”:  Gene Sarazen, Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods.  In the LPGA, Babe Zaharias did it in 1950 (when there were 3 major tournaments) and Mickey Wright in 1961 (when there were only 2 majors).  The tennis “Grand Slam” has been achieved in living memory:  Rod Laver accomplished the feat in 1962 and repeated it in 1969, while Steffi Graf took all four majors on the women’s side in 1988.

But ever since the Nihon Sumo Kyokai instituted a six-basho annual schedule starting in 1958, no rikishi has ever won all six basho in a single calendar year.  Twice during his illustrious career, 48th yokozuna Taiho did win six consecutive yusho (a “Taiho Slam” if you will), but both of those rensho were accomplished over the span of two calendar years.

With all four of the 2004 yusho thus far in his mighty hands - could this be the year we see ASASHORYU accomplish a sumo “Grand Slam”?  Based on the Japan Times news item reprinted in this issue, it appears as if he’s game.

Another item:  if the “Mongolian Express” does ‘run the table’ as he says he’s going all out to do, then he’ll break another long-standing record among a very elite fraternity – the ‘legendary’ yokozuna who have won 10 yusho or more.  Currently, Taiho holds the record for the shortest interval between his first yusho and his 10th:  it only covered 14 basho.  Your writer sees this as a measure of a yokozuna’s strength and dominance over the other rikishi of his era.  (The numbers for the other post-1958 yokozuna with 10 or more yusho are in the table shown on this page.)  At his current pace ASASHORYU would join this exclusive pantheon at the end of the year – a phenomenal 12 basho after winning numero uno, and a very telling sign of how strong this man really is!

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Asashoryu looking to run table

The Japan Times: July 20, 2004

NAGOYA (Kyodo) Mongolian grand champion Asashoryu is hungrier than ever and has set his sights on capturing all six Emperor's Cup titles this year.

The 23-year-old yokozuna said, a day after claiming his fourth consecutive title since the New Year meet on Sunday, that he is not happy with the way he wrestled at the 15-day meet at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium despite bringing home his eighth overall title.  "I'm not satisfied with this meet. I was missing something. This year, I want to win all the tournaments," Asashoryu said at a press conference on Monday.

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Reflections on Nagoya
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

After a number of years watching sumo, I have come to the conclusion that if anyone wanted to go to Japan specifically to see Grand Sumo, Nagoya would be a great choice.

There are several reasons why I think this.  First and foremost, because based on what I saw on this year’s video, you have a better chance of getting seats.  I don't know if the arena in Nagoya is bigger, or the turnout was off this year, but there seemed to be plenty of seats most days.  In fact, Mr. Matsuzaki tells us that they only had man’in onrei (full house, thank you) on five of the fifteen days.

Several years ago, one of our members went to the Nagoya Basho.  (He) was able to get in on senshuraku.  At the end of the basho, they let the public tear the dohyo down.  (He) brought several nice chunks of dohyo clay back with (him).  A couple of these chunks were added to the Dohyo of Dreams.  Bet that doesn't happen in Tokyo!

Mr. Matsuzaki says that he never pays any attention to the crowd, but I do.  Certain people catch my eye for some reason.  Like the lady in the kimono who sat in the same seat on the West side hanamichi almost every day last year.  She was back in the same seat this year.  Ernie Hunt thinks she is a "mama-san," someone who deals with younger Geisha.  There has been another similar lady on the second row of the south side sand seats almost every day.  She frequently has pretty girls with her.  Trent Sabo would want to know that there seems to be more of the latter in Nagoya.

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A Weighty Question for All Amateur Sumotori
Commentary by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

As those of you who follow amateur sumo know, we currently have only four weight divisions:  lightweight (<85 kg/187 lbs.), middleweight (<115 kg/253 lbs.), heavyweight (>115 kg/253 lbs.) and openweight.  Women and junior men have the same divisions with different weights.

However, Olympic judo has seven weight divisions.  Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling each have ten.  Boxing and weightlifting also have multiple divisions by bodyweight.  I have thought for some time now that we probably could use more weight divisions in amateur sumo. 

Here are some of the possibilities.  There could be a “featherweight” division set at <65 kg/143 lbs (or a “bantamweight” division set at <70 kg/154 lbs – Ed.).  “Yukikaze” thinks that the middleweight division should be split at 100 kg/220 lbs.  Those in the lighter half would be referred to as either “welterweights” or “light-middleweights”.  We think a similar case could be made for splitting the heavyweight division into heavyweight and “super-heavyweight” divisions.  The dividing line would be at 150 kg/330 lbs.  (“Yukikaze” thinks that another split could be made at 130 kg/286 lbs to form a “light-heavyweight” division – Ed.).  I don't think anyone would want to drop the open division because it's just too much of what sumo is really about.  (Tournament organizers would always have the option to combine divisions as needed if there weren’t enough competitors in one division.  There would also be something else:  the option for a competitor to register and compete in a division above their current weight, as occasionally happens in school wrestling.  I do not advocate dropping openweight sumo either.  Weight-division sumo is a privilege of sorts, but openweight sumo is a right – Ed.)

Of course, the con to this is that people at the lower end of each division frequently do very well.  Case in point:  Nick Rodriguez who at 212 lbs. took third in the middleweight division at the recent California Open Sumo Championship and then won the Open division!

What we really need now is comment and feedback from the amateur sumo community to see if there is any support (or non-support) for any  or all of these proposed changes.  We are especially attuned to hearing from those of any weight who actually enter the dohyo and take the charge, but the non-competing fan base is also encouraged to contribute to the debate.  However it works out, the objective is the same:  a broader, robust, more competitive amateur sumo community where everyone enjoys themselves. 

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YOU WANT POWER? – Jim “Yukikaze” Lowerre gives Harry “Tonkatsu” Dudrow the ‘look’ as he approaches the dohyo during the 2004 California Open Sumo Championships.  Lowerre, 51, won the Grand Masters division with a 4-0 record.  (Photo by Lorinda “Sumo Phreek” Kasten-Lowerre for SUMO SHIMPO.)

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The 2004 California Open Sumo Championships
by “Tonkatsu” for SUMO SHIMPO

After three years at the "Dohyo of Dreams," the California Open Sumo Championships moved back indoors for 2004.  The first California Open in 2000 was held at the Long Beach PAL – a steel warehouse that got very warm and uncomfortable as the day progressed.  This year the venue was the very modern, air-conditioned Alexander Hughes Community Center in Claremont, the home of the Goltz Sumo Tournament every January.

This year, thirty-two competitors ranging in age from referee Ernie Hunt's six-year old grandson to yours truly, five days short of his sixty-fourth birthday, answered the bell.  Clubs represented included:  the California Sumo Association, Golden State Sumo, Goltz Judo Club, Snake River Sumo Association (Idaho), the Northern California Sumo Kyokai, and the Southern California Sumo Kyokai.

The day’s action began with the Grand Masters (50+ years of age) and Masters (40+ years of age) interspersed with kid's matches.  Three heavyweights (Jim "Yukikaze" Lowerre, Harry "Tonkatsu" Dudrow, Larry Brann) and two middleweights (Glenn Crosby, Jerry Tambe) contested the Grand Masters.  "Yukikaze" emerged from the round robin with a zensho yusho for the clear win.  Brann was second, Crosby third and Tambe fourth.  You may guess where that left this writer, who now thinks he should have offered a 60-plus category.  Art Morrow was the only one who presented himself for Masters action, so Tambe and Crosby gamely stepped up to give him some competition.  They probably got more than they bargained for, since the three-man round robin ended in a three-way tie.  We used Japanese playoff rules, which requires someone to win two in a row.  Five additional matches later, Tambe emerged a very tired winner with Crosby second and Morrow third.

The results of the children’s competitions:

Kids #1:  1. Rachel Crosby  2. Ivan Lopez  3. Alisha Ryczek
Kids #2:  1. Dia Ascha  2. Cameron Ryczek  3. Oubadaha Alwan
Bigger Kids:  1. Omar Alwan  2. Sarah Crosby  3. Ashley Silva 
Juniors 12 & 13:  1. Samantha Silva  2. Oies Hamed  3. Kyle Hitch

In a special exhibition, eight-year old Oubadaha Alwan defeated six-year old Matt Clark.  In another special exhibition, twelve-year old Samantha Silva gamely took on the only woman competitor to show up, Danila Oder of the California Sumo Association.  It was unfortunate that none of Danila's female CSA clubmates (where were May and Mashid? – Ed.) weren't there to compete with her.  She should have a leg up on them at the Nationals in Las Vegas in September.

In the men's lightweight division there were only three competitors:  Trent Sabo (the only one of last year’s division champions to make a title defense), Morrow, and newcomer Marc Alvarez (who showed to inquire about judo and let himself get roped into competing).  In the first match Sabo fooled around and let himself get walked out by ashitori by Alvarez.  Sabo then beat Morrow; but it wasn't enough:  Alvarez also bested Morrow to emerge as the clear winner.  Sabo was left with the silver; Morrow took the bronze.

Five men answered the bell for the middleweight competition:  Troy Collins, Michael Pike, Nick Rodriguez, Doug Cochran and Kurt “Tachikaze” Rightmyer.  Collins emerged from the five-man round robin with a zensho performance for the gold.  Pike took the silver; Rodriguez came through for the bronze.  Cochran finished fourth, Rightmyer fifth (this is noted for purposes of points in the 2004 California Sumo Series, not to show anyone up – Ed.).

The heavyweight division was highlighted by the special appearance of North American heavyweight champion Casey Burns, who weighed in at over 450 pounds.  Joining Burns on the lists were Marcus Barber (also over 450 pounds), Justin Crite, Tim Beskin and Devon Kobayashi (who only has one good arm).  Burns emerged unbeaten after a climactic match with Barber, who finished second.  Justin Crite (at only 265 pounds) managed to walk away with the bronze despite ending up on the bottom of yori-taoshi (frontal crush-outs) from both Burns and Barber.  Beskin was fourth, Kobayashi fifth.

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YOU WANT TO SEE DEDICATION?…Trent Sabo, Justin Crite and Devon Kobayashi do keiko under the stars in the first-ever night practice held on the “Dohyo of Dreams”.  (Photo:  “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO)

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