Yutakayama Ryōta

Yutakayama Ryōta (Japanese: 豊山 亮太, born 22 September 1993 as Ryōta Oyanagi (小柳 亮太, Oyanagi Ryōta)) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kita-ku, Niigata. He made his professional debut at sandanme tsukedashi, which allowed him to skip the lower divisions, in March 2016, and his first makuuchi division honbasho was the Natsu tournament in May 2017. His highest rank was maegashira 1.

Yutakayama Ryōta
豊山 亮太
Personal information
BornOyanagi Ryōta
(1993-09-22) 22 September 1993
Kita-ku, Niigata
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight174 kg (384 lb; 27.4 st)
Career
StableTokitsukaze
UniversityTokyo University of Agriculture
Record277-281-10
DebutMarch 2016
Highest rankMaegashira 1 (July 2020)
RetiredNovember, 2022
Championships1 (Makushita)
1 (Sandanme)
Special Prizes1 (Fighting Spirit)
* Up to date as of 28 November 2022.

Early life and sumo background

Oyanagi started doing sumo his first year of elementary school. He abandoned sumo in junior high school in favor of baseball and continued until entering high school. He started to feel he was reaching his limit in baseball and in high school because of his size he went back to participating in sumo. After a fairly successful high school career he chose to continue doing sumo at Tokyo University of Agriculture where he majored in forestry in the Faculty of Regional Environmental Science. Each spring in Osaka the members of the Tokyo University of Agriculture sumo club would have joint training with the members of Tokitsukaze stable. This is where he was introduced to Tokitsukaze-oyakata who was also a Tokyo University of Agriculture graduate. He was later told by him that he should join professional sumo, which he accepted.

Career

Early career

Yutakayama in 2017

Oyanagi won no major titles in his amateur career,[1] being somewhat prone to lapses in concentration and overconfidence against some of his key rivals.[2] However, having finished in the top eight at the All-Japan Sumo Championship he was granted sandanme tsukedashi which allowed him to skip the lower divisions and start at sandanme 100. He won his debut basho with a 7–0 championship, he matched this performance the following tournament to win the makushita division. After two more winning tournaments he made his sekitori debut by being promoted to jūryō in November 2016.

Top division career

Following three successful tournaments in jūryō he was promoted to the top makuuchi division in May 2017.[3] To mark the occasion he changed his shikona or fighting name from his own surname of Oyanagi to Yutakayama, a prestigious name at Tokitsukaze stable that had previously been used by the former ōzeki and head of the Japan Sumo Association Yutakayama Katsuo and former komusubi Yutakayama Hiromitsu. He could only manage four wins at the rank and was demoted back down to the second division for the next tournament. He managed a runner-up performance and was promoted back up the following tournament only to match his record for May 2017. After coming back to the makuuchi division for the third time he was finally able to get a winning record of 9–6 at maegashira 14 and followed that performance with a 10–5 at maegashira 11, which saw him promoted to the upper maegashira ranks for the first time, at maegashira 3. Fighting all the top ranked wrestlers for the first time he could manage only a 2–13 record, but in the following July tournament he produced his best performance to date, with a 12–3 runner up performance including a final day victory over the tournament winner Mitakeumi. He was awarded his first special prize, for Fighting Spirit. Promoted to maegashira 2 in September 2018, he withdrew from the tournament on Day 5 after sustaining an elbow injury in his Day 3 defeat to Kisenosato.[4] He returned to the tournament on Day 9 and won three bouts out of his remaining seven matches for a 3–10–2 record. Three more losing records saw him demoted from makuuchi after the March 2019 tournament. He returned to the top division in September 2019 and four straight winning records saw him climb to maegashira 1 for the July 2020 tournament, his highest rank to date. However, he then had five straight losing records and was demoted back to jūryō for the May 2021 tournament.

Retirement

After the July 2021 tournament, Yutakayama reentered the top makuuchi division for the September 2021 tournament. However he quickly dropped in the rankings after a barely achieved winning score in September. For 2022, Yutakayama only achieved a winning record on the July tournament. In September, his 4-11 score sent him back to the jūryō division. After finishing the November tournament with a losing record, he announced his retirement from professional sumo.[5]

Yutakayama's danpatsu-shiki (retirement ceremony) was held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on 25 June 2023, shortly before his former stablemates at Tokitsukaze stable departed for the sumo tournament in Nagoya. Approximately 430 individuals participated in the ceremonial cutting of Yutakayama's topknot.

Post-retirement athletic activities

Oyanagi did not remain with the Sumo Association upon his retirement, and became a personal trainer in Tokyo.[6] His gym, Personal Gym OYG, officially opened its doors in Akihabara, Tokyo at the end of June.[7]

On October 16, 2023, Oyanagi competed in the Legacy Tokyo half marathon after physical preparation in which he lost 60 kg (130 lb), now weighing 110 kg (240 lb). He finished the race with a score of 2 hours 8 minutes and 25 seconds. Inspired by Yuki Kawauchi, he also announced his goal of reaching a weight of 90 kg (200 lb) and competing in the Tokyo Marathon in March 2024.[8]

Fighting style

Yutakayama is an oshi-sumo wrestler, who prefers thrusting and pushing at his opponents to fighting on the mawashi or belt.[1] His most common winning kimarite is oshi-dashi, or push out.

Career record

Yutakayama Ryota[9]
Year in sumo January
Hatsu basho, Tokyo
March
Haru basho, Osaka
May
Natsu basho, Tokyo
July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya
September
Aki basho, Tokyo
November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2016 x Sandanme tsukedashi #100
70
Champion

 
West Makushita #58
70
Champion

 
West Makushita #7
61
 
East Makushita #1
43
 
West Jūryō #12
114
 
2017 East Jūryō #6
87
 
West Jūryō #4
96
 
East Maegashira #16
411
 
East Jūryō #5
114
 
West Maegashira #15
411
 
West Jūryō #3
96
 
2018 West Maegashira #14
96
 
West Maegashira #11
105
 
West Maegashira #3
213
 
West Maegashira #9
123
F
East Maegashira #2
3102
 
West Maegashira #10
510
 
2019 East Maegashira #14
69
 
West Maegashira #16
312
 
East Jūryō #5
87
 
West Jūryō #3
96
 
East Maegashira #16
105
 
West Maegashira #9
87
 
2020 West Maegashira #9
114
 
East Maegashira #3
87
 
West Maegashira #1
Tournament Cancelled
000
West Maegashira #1
510
 
East Maegashira #4
267
 
East Maegashira #12
69
 
2021 East Maegashira #15
78
 
East Maegashira #15
4101
 
East Jūryō #4
87
 
East Jūryō #1
105
 
West Maegashira #14
87
 
East Maegashira #13
78
 
2022 West Maegashira #13
69
 
West Maegashira #14
78
 
West Maegashira #14
69
 
East Maegashira #16
87
 
West Maegashira #14
411
 
West Jūryō #4
Retired
510
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up Retired Lower Divisions

Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: =Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s)
Divisions: Makuuchi Jūryō Makushita Sandanme Jonidan Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna Ōzeki Sekiwake Komusubi Maegashira

See also

References

  1. Shuji, Miki (11 August 2018). "SUMO ABC No. 83 / Can Yutakayama reproduce spirit displayed at Nagoya basho?". Japan News. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  2. Gunning, John (6 September 2018). "Expect the unexpected in wide-open Autumn Basho". Japan Times. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  3. "Sumo: Kisenosato looks to stay on roll at summer tourney". Kyodo News. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  4. "豊山が休場 左肘内側側副じん帯損傷 稀勢の里戦で負傷" (in Japanese). Sponichi/Yahoo Japan. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  5. "Jūryō Yutakayama retires after the Kyushu tournament, with 5 wins and 10 losses". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  6. "元前頭豊山の小柳亮太氏涙の断髪式、430人がはさみ入れる「次は土俵あるジムを都内に」と抱負". Nikkan Sports. 25 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  7. "元豊山から個人四股レッスン、わずかな時間で変化を実感 運動不足解消にうってつけ". Nikkan Sports. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  8. "元前頭豊山の小柳亮太さん、ハーフマラソン2時間8分25秒で完走「また走り込みます」". Nikkan Sports. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  9. "Yutakayama Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
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