To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
By William May
（Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public
Information Committee
：wmay52@hotmail.com）
MATSUMOTO MAKES IT 6 STRAIGHT AT INVITATIONAL
TOKYO (June 22-23) - Shingo Matsumoto breezed to his sixth straight
Meiji Nyugyo Cup invitational title in greco-roman and secured his berth
on the national team for the world championships this fall. Matsumoto pinned
long-time rival Mitsuhiro Ota in the 84-kg semifinals at Tokyo's Yoyogi
National Gymnasium and then eased to victory with an 8-0, 4-0 win over
Shinobu Komukai. The invitational victory along with a title in last December's
national championships earned Matsumoto a ticket to Budapest for the September
26-October 2 world championships.
The Meiji Nyugyo Cup meet served as the national team qualifying competition.
A special wrestle-off was held if the MNC winner was different from the
winner of the national championships.
Also in greco-roman, Athens Olympian Masatoshi Toyota edged national
champion Shingo Hirai in the final at 55 kg and then downed Hirai again
in a national team wrestle-off to book his ticket to Budapest.
In freestyle, 2003 world bronze medalist Kazuhiko Ikematsu struggled
a bit in the semifinals, but was never in trouble in the 66-kg final against
student challenger Kohei Fujimoto to earn a return to the world meet. Meanwhile,
Kiyotaka Kodaira (96 kg) and Akihito Tanaka (120 kg), who both narrowly
missed qualifying for last year's Athens Olympics, return to the world
stage in Budapest after easy MNC invitational wins.
Greco-roman
55 kg
Masatoshi Toyota df. Shingo Hirai by disqualification, 3P=1:30 (2x-2, 1-1x,
1-0=1:30)
(Toyoda wins 4th overall MNC title)
National team wrestle-off
Toyota df. Hirai, 2-0 (4-0, 2-1)
----
60 kg
Final
Makoto Sasamoto df. Kenta Iwasaki, 2-0 (4-0, 6-0=1:09)
(Sasamoto wins 5th straight MNC title)
----
66 kg
Masaki Imuro df. Masaaki Izena by fall, 2P=1:39 (tf5-0=1:07, 7-1=1:39)
(Imuro wins 4th overall MNC title)
----
74 kg
Final
Yuki Iwasaki df. Taichi Suga, 2-1 (1-4,1x-1, 5-0)
(Iwasaki wins 1st MNC title)
National team wrestle-off
Iwasaki df. Tsukasa Tsurumaki, 2-1 (4-0, 1-1x, 3-2)
----
84 kg
Shingo Matsumoto df. Shinobu Komukai, 2-0 (tf8-0=1:49, 4-0)
(Matsumoto wins 6th straight MNC title)
----
96 kg
Kenzo Kato df. Yusuke Morikaku, 2-0 (1x-1, 1x-1)
(Kato wins 3rd overall MNC title)
National team wrestle-off
Kato df. Morikaku by fall, 1P=1:14 (3-0)
----
120 kg
Naoki Sawada df. Tetsuya Shato, 2-0 (1x-1, 1x-1)
(Sawada wins 1st MNC title)
National team wrestle-off
Sawada df. Hirokazu Shinjo by disqualification, 3P=2:00 (3-0, 1-1x, 1x-1)
----
Freestyle
55 kg
Tomohiro Matsunaga df. Takeshi Sugitani, 2-0 (1-0, 1-0)
(Matsunaga wins 1st MNC title)
----
60 kg
Kenichi Yumoto df. Noriyuki Takatsuka, 2-0 (1-0, 1-0)
(Yumoto wins 1st MNC title)
National team wrestle-off
Yumoto df. Tadafumi Kojima, 2-1 (2-0, 0-2, 1-0)
----
66 kg
Kazuhiko Ikematsu df. Kohei Fujimoto, 2-0 (2-0, 4-0)
(Ikematsu wins 4th overall MNC title)
----
74 kg
Kunihiko Obata df. Kazuyuki Nagashima, 2-0 (1-0, 2-1)
(Obata wins 4th overall MNC title)
----
84 kg
Satoru Yamamoto df. Shinya Matsumoto, 2-0 (1-0, 1-0)
(Yamamoto wins 1st MNC title)
National team wrestle-off
Yamamoto df. Takao Isokawa, 2-1 (0-3=2:04, 1-0, 1-0)
----
96 kg
Kiyotaka Kodaira df. Yoshitsugu Yoneyama, 2-0 (3-0, 2-0)
(Kodaira wins 4th overall MNC title)
----
120 kg
Akihito Tanaka df. Hirokazu Akiba, 2-0 (tf8-2=1:59, tf7-0=0:42)