To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

By William May
（Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public Information Committee
：wmay52@hotmail.com）

IRAQI TEAM IN JAPAN TO PREPARE FOR WORLD C’SHIPS






TOKYO (August 27) - Iraq’s national wrestling team arrived in Japan to join Japan’s national team training camp in preparation for the world championships in Baku. The teams are scheduled to train together at the national training center in Tokyo. The Iraqi team will then travel to Yamanashi Gakuin University outside of Tokyo for a week of training before leaving on September 13. The world championships get under way September 17 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

TAKATSUKA EDGES OSAWA FOR 60 KG IN COLLEGE OPEN FS


TOKYO (August 23-24) - World bronze medalist Noriyuki Takatsuka stopped rival college Shigeki Osawa in two periods to claim the 60-kg crown at the freestyle collegiate open wrestling tournament. Takatsuka of Nihon University, who took third place at last year’s world meet in China, was named the outstanding wrestler of the open and awarded the Education Minister’s Cup. Yasuhiro Inaba of Senshu University, meanwhile, notched four falls on his way to his second straight open triumph at 55 kg. Nihon’s Goki Kudo also repeated at 74 kg.

In a repeat of the 66-kg greco-roman final two days earlier, Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu reversed a decision over Takushoku University teammate Kohei Fujimoto for his first open championship. Norikatsu Saikawa of Nippon Sports Science University, who won the greco-roman crown at 84 kg, used an arm throw to secure the freestyle title at 96 kg.

Results of individual championship finals:
55 kg - Yasuhiro Inaba, Senshu df. Kazuhide Tomita, Daito Bunka Univ., 2-0
60 kg - Noriyuki Takatsu, Nihon df. Shigeki Osawa, Yamanashi Gakuin Univ., 2-0
66 kg - Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu, Taku df. Kohei Fujimoto, Taku, 2-0
74 kg - Gouki Kudo, Nihon df. Takashi Miyahara, Meiji Univ., 2-0
84 kg - Junki Monmama, NSSU df. Yoichi Yamagata, Nihon, 2-1
96 kg - Norikatsu Saikawa, NSSU df. Seiji Azuma, Ritsumeikan Univ., 2-0
120 kg - Atsushi Nakamura, Taku df. Boris Mujikov, YGU, 2-0

R. MATSUMOTO PINS HIS WAY TO 2ND COLLEGIATE OPEN GR CROWN


TOKYO (August 21-22) - Ryutaro Matsumoto pinned his way to his second championship title at 60 kg in greco-roman at the all-Japan collegiate open wrestling tournament. Matsumoto was joined by two Nippon Sports Science University teammates, Yuichi Tanaka (74) and Norikatsu Saikawa (84), on the top step of the medals podium.

Results of the championship finals:
55 kg - Ryo Minemura, Kanagawa Univ. df. Kiyoharu Hirao, NSSU, 2-0 (2-1, 3-0)
60 kg - Ryutaro Matsumoto, NSSU df. Kazuma Kuramoto, Yamanashi Gakuin Univ., 2-0 (3-0, 4-1)
66 kg - Kohei Fujimoto, Takushoku Univ. df. Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu, Taku, 2-1 (2-1, 1-1x, 2-0)
74 kg - Yuichi Tanaka, NSSU df. Shuhei Kuraya, NSSU, 2-1 (1-1x, 2-1, 1x-1)
84 kg - Norikatsu Saikawa, NSSU df. Yasuhiro Naguchi, NSSU, 2-0 (6-0, 7-0)
96 kg - Katsuya Kitamura, Senshu Univ. df. Masaaki Aso, Taku, 2-1 (1-1x, 3-0, 4-0)
120 kg - Boris Mujikov, YGU df. Ryuta Kono, Aoyama Gakuin Univ., 2-0 (4-0, 3-0)

SHINKAI WINS 4TH STRAIGHT WOMEN’S COLLEGE TITLE


TOKYO (August 21) - Mami Shinkai won her fourth straight title at 67 kg at the women’s collegiate wrestling championships.
Shinkai was named the outstanding wrestler while she and her Chukyo Women’s University teammates claimed six of the seven weight categories contested at Komazawa Gymnasium.

Among those, Kie Tanaka won her third title in a row at 72 kg and Kei Yamana repeated as champion at 63 kg. Eriko Nakata of Waseda University broke the CWU stranglehold on titles when she defeated Mizuka Kajita 2-1 in the final at 59 kg. The other CWU champions were Yumi Kawamura (48), Yuna Sakae (51) and Mizuho Shibata (55).

AKITA SHOGYO DEFEATS KASUMIGAURA TO DEFEND HS CROWN


SAGA, Saga Prefecture (August 2-3) - Defending champion Akita Shogyo defeated spring invitational winner Kasumigaura of Ibaraki to hold onto the national high school wrestling championship team title. Akita Shogyo won its third high school championship overall with a 4-3 triumph, avenging a loss to Kasumigaura in the invitational team final in March.

Local favorite Kashima Jitsugyo of Saga and Ginan Kogyo of Gifu took home the third-place trophies. Akita’s Yoshiki Sato was named the outstanding wrestler of the tourney.

TAKAYA DOUBLES UP ON HS TITLES, NAMED OW


SAGA, Saga Prefecture (August 4-5) - Sosuke Takaya of Amino high school in Kyoto pinned three of the five opponents he faced at 74 kg as was named the outstanding wrestler of the high school national championship meet.Takaya was one of six wrestlers to add the second jewel of high school wrestling’s freestyle triple crown after winning the spring invitational title in March. The final leg will be at the national sports festival in October.

Meanwhile, Kotaro Tanaka, a junior at Kyoto’s Hachiman high school, accomplished a rare double for a second-year wrestler by winning the national championship title along with the invitational crown.

Results of individual finals:
50 kg - Tomoya Mizukoshi, Kasumigaura (Ibaraki) df. Takuma Yamauchi, Kosei Gakuin (Aomori), 2-1 (0-1, 1-0, 1-0)
55 kg - Kotaro Tanaka, Hachiman (Kyoto) df. Yu Kagabu, Akita Shogyo by default, 2P=2:00 (0-3, 8-4) 60 kg - Tomotsugu Ishida, Ritsumeikan-Uji (Kyoto) df. Takahiro Inoue, Ikuei (Hyogo), 2-0 (1-0, 1-0)
66 kg - Takuya Tomizuka, Kanto Gakuen (Gunma) df. Tatsuya Nabatame, Kasumigaura, 2-1 (0-1, 2-1, 6-5)
74 kg - Sosuke Takatani, Amino (Kyoto) df. Hiroaki Inoue, Seijo (Aichi) by fall, 1P=1:10 (6-0)
84 kg - Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Nakatsu Shogyo (Gifu) df. Tsuyoshi Yamashita, Shuzenji Kogyo (Shizuoka), 2-0 (3-0, 1x-1)
96 kg - Shinji Asada, Hojo (Aichi) df. Katsutoshi Kanazawa, Taneichi (Iwate) by fall, 1P=0:26 (4-0) 120 kg - Shoma Moriuchi, Kasumigaura (Ibaraki) df. Takuya Masuda, Sakura Minami (Chiba), 2-0 (1-0, 1-0)

S. SUZUKI 3-PEAT AT GIRLS HS C’SHIPS


SAKAI, Osaka (August 17) - Sachiko Suzuki of Tochigi’s Mibu high school won at 54 kg to win the high school girls wrestling championship title for a third straight year. Meanwhile, Ayaka Sato of Shigakukan in Aichi won at 68 kg for her second high school crown.

Individual champions were:
40 kg - Sakura Ueno, Amino (Kyoto)
43 kg - Chiaki Fujikawa, Saitama Sakae
46 kg - Chihiro Nonaka, Saitama Sakae
50 kg - Fuyuko Mimura, Amino
54 kg - Sachiko Suzuki, Mibu (Tochigi)
58 kg - Yurika Ito, Amino
63 kg - Rio Watari, Shigakukan (Aichi)
68 kg - Ayaka Sato, Shigakukan
72 kg - Anna Uno, Yokkaichi Yongo (Mie)

ISHIDA, YAMAGUCHI ADD GR TITLES TO COLLECTION


SAKAI, Osaka (August 18-19) - Tomotsugu Ishida of Kyoto’s Ritsumeikan-Uji and Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi of Ginan Shogyo in Gifu won their third titles of the year at the high school greco-roman wrestling national championships. Ishida and Yamaguchi won two freestyle titles earlier at the national invitational in March and the recent national championships in Saga.

Meanwhile, Takuya Tomizuka of Kanto Gakuen in Gunma won his second title at 66 kg, after claiming the national championships title earlier in August.

Individual winners
50 kg - Tomoaki Nakano, Yaezu Chuo (Shizuoka) df. Shota Kawazoe, Kitakyushu (Fukuoka), 2-0 (6-0, 3-2)
55 kg - Ryohei Komata, Kasumigaura (Ibaraki) df. Shoto Suzuki, Yaezu Suisan (Shizuoka), 2-1 (4-1, 1-2, 4-0)
60 kg - Tomotsugu Ishida, Ritsumeikan-Uji (Kyoto) df. Yasuhiro Suzuki, Tadotsu Kogyo (Kagawa) by default
66 kg - Takuya Tomizuka, Kanto Gakuen (Gunma) df. Tatsuya Nabatame, Kasumigaura by fall, 1P=1:20 (4-0)
74 kg - Taishi Fukunaga, Nihon Bunri Daifu (Oita) df. Toshinori Tokuyama, Tottori Chuo Ikuei, 2-0 (3-0, 5-0)
84 kg - Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Nakatsu Shogyo (Gifu) df. Toru Yokosawa, Morioka Kogyo (Iwate) by fall, 2P=1:18 (10-2, 3-0)
96 kg - Takuma Yuzono, Ikuei (Hyogo) df. Hiroki Fukuda, Tajima (Fukushima), 2-0 (3-0, 7-0)
120 kg - Takuya Masuda, Sakura Minami (Chiba) df. Shodai Tanida, Yamato Koryo (Nara), 2-0 (5-0, 3-0)

FORMER WORLD CHAMP LEADS TOKYO CLUB TO KIDS CROWN


TOKYO (August 11-13) - The Sukoburu Gold Kids of Tokyo won 13 individual categories and unseated perennial power Suita of Osaka in the 24th boys and girls wrestling championships. The Tokyo team, coached by former world champion Akiko Narikuni, racked up 95 points to outdistance the Suita municipal wrestling club with 65 points. Yokkaichi Juniors from Mie and Osaka’s Enjoy Wrestling club tied for third place.

It was the first time that a team from Tokyo has won the title for clubs with 11 or more wrestlers. Mito (Ibaraki) edged the Kiguchi Dojo of (Tokyo) on criteria for the team title in the division for clubs with 10 or fewer wrestlers.

“The kids wrestled really well. This is the result of their hard work,” said Narikuni, who was the women’s world champion at 65 kg in 1990 and 1991 as Akiko Iijima.

A total of 1,474 wrestlers from 172 clubs from Japan, China and the United States took part in the three-day competition at Komazawa Gymnasium.