To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
By William May
(Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public
Information Committee
:wmay52@hotmail.com)
YUMOTO LOSES, WINS AT MNC WORLD TEAM TRIALS
TOKYO (June 10) - National champion Kenichi Yumoto lost in the semifinals
of the Meiji Nyugyo Cup men痴 invitational meet but rebounded in the wrestle-offs
at 60 kg to win a trip to the world championships in September.
On a wild day of action in freestyle at 60 kg, which saw world bronze medalist
Noriyuki Takatsuka tumble out in the first round, Shigeki Ozawa grabbed
his first MNC title with wins over Olympic bronze medalist Kenji Inoue
in the semifinals and Yumoto in the final. Yumoto, however, wrapped up
Ozawa for the fall in the national team wrestle-off to win his second shot
at the world championships after finishing 13th in Budapest two years ago.
Meanwhile, in other matches at Yoyogi No. 2 Gymnasium in Tokyo, Tomohiro
Matsunaga pinned rival Hideki Taoka at 55 kg and will get his second chance
at the world championships after a fifth-place finish in Budapest. Hiroki
Kayamori defeated national champion Kazuyuki Nagashima twice at 74 kg to
earn his first trip to the world meet. Kiyotaka Kodaira turned away the
challenge of former Takao Isokawa at 96 kg for this third straight trip
to the world championships.
In greco-roman, Tsukasa Tsurumaki defeated national champion Taichi Suga
in back-to-back matches and will get his first chance at the world championships
at 74 kg. Hirokazu Shinjo won at 120 kg and was awarded the ticket to Baku
after national champion Naoki Sawada failed to make weight.
Makoto Sasamoto (GR, 60 kg) was named the most outstanding wrestler of
the competition, while Shingo Matsumoto (GR, 84) and Tomohiro Matsunaga
(FS, 55) were named the outstanding wrestlers in their respective styles.
F55kg : Tomohiro Matsunaga | F60kg : Ken-ichi Yumoto | F74kg : Hirioki Kayamoro |
Results of individual matches:
Greco-roman
74 kg (16 entries)
Tsukasa Tsurumaki df. Taichi Suga, 2-0 (1L-1, 3-0)
(Tsurumaki wins 1st MNC title)
National team wrestle-off
Tsurumaki df. Suga, 2-0 (6-0, 1L-1)
120 kg (10 entries)
Hirokazu Shinjo df. Atsushi Nakamura, 2-1 (1-1L, 1L-1, 1L-1)
(Shinjo wins 1st MNC title)
National team wrestle-off
Shinjo df. Naoki Sawada by default, 0:00
Freestyle
55 kg (14 entries)
Tomohiro Matsunaga df. Hideki Taoka by fall, 2P=1:32 (1-0, 4-0)
(Matsunaga wins 2nd MNC title, first since 2005)
60 kg (13 entries)
F1 - Shigeki Ozawa df. Kenichi Yumoto, 2-0 (3B-3, 2-0)
(Ozawa wins 1st MNC title)
Also,
SF - Yumoto df. Shinya Odate, 2-1 (4-1, 1-3, 2-0)
SF - Ozawa df. Kenji Inoue, 2-1 (0-1=2:02, 5-0, 1-0)
R1 - Seshito Shimizu df. Noriyuki Takatsuka, 2-0 (1-0=2:02, 1-0)
R2 - Ozawa df. Shimizu by fall, 1P=1:33 (3-1)
National team wrestle-off
Yumoto df. Ozawa by fall, 2P=1:39 (2-1, 5-2)
74 kg (15 entries)
F1 - Hiroki Kayamori df. Kazuyuki Nagashima, 2-0 (1-0=2:06, 2-1)
(Kayamori wins 1st MNC title)
Also,
SF - Nagashima df. Kunihiko Obata, 2-0 (2-1, 1-0=2:03)
National team wrestle-off
Kayamori df. Nagashima, 2-1 (0-2=2:15, 1-0, 1-0)
96 kg (14 entries)
Kiyotaka Kodaira df. Takao Isokawa, 2-1 (0-1=2:04, 1-0, 2:30, 1-0)
(Kodaira wins 4th straight MNC title)