Wakakōyū Masaya (born 24 February 1984 as Masaya Yakigaya) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Funabashi, Japan. His highest rank was komusubi. The last two characters of his ring name were taken from his mentor and coach at Ōnomatsu, the former Masurao. He was only the second wrestler from his stable to reach the top division. He was runner-up in one tournament and earned one special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He is now a sumo coach.
Wakakōyū Masaya
若荒雄 匡也
Personal information
Born
Masaya Yakigaya (1984-02-24) 24 February 1984 (age 40) Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
Two years after his birth in Funabashi, his father was killed in a car accident and he was subsequently raised alone by his mother. Ōnomatsu stable being very near the home of one of his relatives, he began visiting it from a young age. This eventually led to him entering the stable in 1999.
Careeredit
Fighting under his own surname of Yakigaya, he rose steadily through the ranks until reaching sandanme where he started to struggle. He managed to reach makushita in September 2002 but was demoted back to sandanme after one tournament. In 2003, he missed two tournaments, but upon returning earned two impressive records topped off with a perfect 7–0 record to win the sandanme championship in the last tournament of that year. He fought for four years in the makushita ranks with occasional temporary demotions to sandanme before finally achieving a record that enabled his promotion to the second division, jūryō, in January 2008. To mark his arrival in the elite sekitori ranks he changed his shikona to Wakakōyū.
After a year and half in jūryō with two demotions to makushita he managed a 9–6 record at the jūryō 2 rank and was promoted to the bottom of the makuuchi division in July 2009. He only managed a 4–11 record and fell back to jūryō. After a one off 6–9 record this tournament, he took in a string of winning records over the next several tournaments to again reach the top division makuuchi in May 2010.[1] This time he proved himself with a 10–5 record that would have allowed him to fight in the next tournament at a career high maegashira 8. However, at this time, he admitted to having been involved in baseball gambling along with a number of other higher ranked wrestlers and was forced to sit out the tournament and was demoted back to jūryō having never fought at his (then) highest achieved rank.
He bounced back from this setback with two winning tournaments, the second being an impressive 10–5 at jūryō's highest rank. This awarded him another chance to prove himself in makuuchi in the January 2011 tournament. Wakakōyū and Toyohibiki were the last two wrestlers to again reach the top division after being demoted from it in the gambling scandal. After an 8–7 score at maegashira 10 in the May Technical Examination Tournament, he reached the upper maegashira ranks for the first time at #3. He managed to defeat two ōzeki (Kotooshu and Kaiō) but finished with a losing score of 5–10. His best performance in the top division came in November 2011 when he finished runner-up to yokozunaHakuhō with a score of 12–3 and was awarded his first sanshō or special prize, for Fighting Spirit. It also saw him promoted to the sanyaku ranks for the first time at komusubi for the following tournament in January 2012. However, a decline in his performances saw him demoted back to the jūryō division at the end of 2012 having scored only 4–11 at maegashira 13 in November. After a few years as a fixture in the second division he retired mid-tournament in September 2014 when his losing record had assured his demotion to the unsalaried ranks.
Retirement from sumoedit
Wakakōyū has stayed in the sumo world as a coach at Ōnomatu stable. He has secured one of the Sumo Association's 105 toshiyori-kabu or elder names, and is now known as Shiranui Oyakata. His danpatsu-shiki or official retirement ceremony was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on January 31, 2015.
Fighting styleedit
Wakakōyū was an oshi-sumo specialist, preferring pushing and thrusting techniques to fighting on the mawashi. His most common winning kimarite were oshi-dashi (push out), tsuki dashi (thrust out) and hiki-otoshi (pull down).
^Buckton, Mark (5 May 2010). "Is ozeki Baruto the man to watch?". Japan Times. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
^"Wakakōyū Masaya Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wakakōyū Masaya.
Wakakōyū Masaya's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage
May 14, 2024
wakakōyū, masaya, born, february, 1984, masaya, yakigaya, former, professional, sumo, wrestler, from, funabashi, japan, highest, rank, komusubi, last, characters, ring, name, were, taken, from, mentor, coach, Ōnomatsu, former, masurao, only, second, wrestler, . Wakakōyu Masaya born 24 February 1984 as Masaya Yakigaya is a former professional sumo wrestler from Funabashi Japan His highest rank was komusubi The last two characters of his ring name were taken from his mentor and coach at Ōnomatsu the former Masurao He was only the second wrestler from his stable to reach the top division He was runner up in one tournament and earned one special prize for Fighting Spirit He is now a sumo coach Wakakōyu Masaya若荒雄 匡也Personal informationBornMasaya Yakigaya 1984 02 24 24 February 1984 age 40 Funabashi Chiba JapanHeight1 79 m 5 ft 10 1 2 in Weight166 kg 366 lb 26 1 st CareerStableŌnomatsuRecord466 444 31DebutMarch 1999Highest rankKomusubi Jan 2012 RetiredSeptember 2014Elder nameShiranuiChampionships1 Sandanme Special PrizesFighting Spirit 1 Up to date as of Feb 1 2015 Contents 1 Early life and sumo background 2 Career 3 Retirement from sumo 4 Fighting style 5 Career record 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksEarly life and sumo background editTwo years after his birth in Funabashi his father was killed in a car accident and he was subsequently raised alone by his mother Ōnomatsu stable being very near the home of one of his relatives he began visiting it from a young age This eventually led to him entering the stable in 1999 Career editFighting under his own surname of Yakigaya he rose steadily through the ranks until reaching sandanme where he started to struggle He managed to reach makushita in September 2002 but was demoted back to sandanme after one tournament In 2003 he missed two tournaments but upon returning earned two impressive records topped off with a perfect 7 0 record to win the sandanme championship in the last tournament of that year He fought for four years in the makushita ranks with occasional temporary demotions to sandanme before finally achieving a record that enabled his promotion to the second division juryō in January 2008 To mark his arrival in the elite sekitori ranks he changed his shikona to Wakakōyu After a year and half in juryō with two demotions to makushita he managed a 9 6 record at the juryō 2 rank and was promoted to the bottom of the makuuchi division in July 2009 He only managed a 4 11 record and fell back to juryō After a one off 6 9 record this tournament he took in a string of winning records over the next several tournaments to again reach the top division makuuchi in May 2010 1 This time he proved himself with a 10 5 record that would have allowed him to fight in the next tournament at a career high maegashira 8 However at this time he admitted to having been involved in baseball gambling along with a number of other higher ranked wrestlers and was forced to sit out the tournament and was demoted back to juryō having never fought at his then highest achieved rank He bounced back from this setback with two winning tournaments the second being an impressive 10 5 at juryō s highest rank This awarded him another chance to prove himself in makuuchi in the January 2011 tournament Wakakōyu and Toyohibiki were the last two wrestlers to again reach the top division after being demoted from it in the gambling scandal After an 8 7 score at maegashira 10 in the May Technical Examination Tournament he reached the upper maegashira ranks for the first time at 3 He managed to defeat two ōzeki Kotooshu and Kaiō but finished with a losing score of 5 10 His best performance in the top division came in November 2011 when he finished runner up to yokozuna Hakuhō with a score of 12 3 and was awarded his first sanshō or special prize for Fighting Spirit It also saw him promoted to the sanyaku ranks for the first time at komusubi for the following tournament in January 2012 However a decline in his performances saw him demoted back to the juryō division at the end of 2012 having scored only 4 11 at maegashira 13 in November After a few years as a fixture in the second division he retired mid tournament in September 2014 when his losing record had assured his demotion to the unsalaried ranks Retirement from sumo editWakakōyu has stayed in the sumo world as a coach at Ōnomatu stable He has secured one of the Sumo Association s 105 toshiyori kabu or elder names and is now known as Shiranui Oyakata His danpatsu shiki or official retirement ceremony was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on January 31 2015 Fighting style editWakakōyu was an oshi sumo specialist preferring pushing and thrusting techniques to fighting on the mawashi His most common winning kimarite were oshi dashi push out tsuki dashi thrust out and hiki otoshi pull down Career record editWakakōyu Masaya 2 Year JanuaryHatsu basho Tokyo MarchHaru basho Osaka MayNatsu basho Tokyo JulyNagoya basho Nagoya SeptemberAki basho Tokyo NovemberKyushu basho Fukuoka 1999 x Maezumo East Jonokuchi 18 4 3 East Jonidan 151 3 4 West Jonokuchi 5 6 1 West Jonidan 71 2 5 2000 East Jonidan 99 4 3 West Jonidan 69 5 2 West Jonidan 25 4 3 West Jonidan 5 4 3 West Sandanme 88 4 3 East Sandanme 70 3 4 2001 West Sandanme 90 3 4 West Jonidan 4 4 3 East Sandanme 86 5 2 West Sandanme 55 4 3 East Sandanme 39 4 3 West Sandanme 25 3 4 2002 West Sandanme 43 4 3 West Sandanme 27 2 5 East Sandanme 55 6 1 East Sandanme 3 4 3 West Makushita 55 3 4 East Sandanme 7 1 6 2003 West Sandanme 43 6 1 East Makushita 55 Sat out due to injury0 0 7 West Sandanme 35 Sat out due to injury0 0 7 East Sandanme 96 6 1 East Sandanme 38 5 2 East Sandanme 11 7 0 PChampion 2004 West Makushita 9 3 4 West Makushita 17 1 6 West Makushita 46 2 5 East Sandanme 9 4 3 West Makushita 59 5 2 West Makushita 43 2 5 2005 East Sandanme 4 4 3 West Makushita 55 4 3 East Makushita 46 5 2 East Makushita 28 2 5 East Makushita 44 3 4 West Makushita 52 1 6 2006 West Sandanme 23 6 1 East Makushita 43 6 1 West Makushita 18 5 2 West Makushita 9 5 2 East Makushita 5 5 2 West Makushita 1 2 5 2007 East Makushita 11 3 4 West Makushita 18 3 4 East Makushita 29 5 2 West Makushita 19 4 3 East Makushita 15 6 1 West Makushita 3 4 3 2008 East Juryō 14 7 8 East Makushita 2 5 2 East Juryō 13 8 7 West Juryō 10 5 10 East Makushita 1 5 3 West Juryō 7 6 9 2009 West Juryō 9 7 8 East Juryō 11 11 4 West Juryō 2 9 6 East Maegashira 16 4 11 West Juryō 6 6 9 West Juryō 9 9 6 2010 East Juryō 4 8 7 West Juryō 1 9 6 East Maegashira 15 10 5 East Maegashira 8 Suspended0 0 15 East Juryō 6 8 7 East Juryō 1 10 5 2011 East Maegashira 14 9 6 West Maegashira 10 Tournament Cancelled0 0 0 West Maegashira 10 8 7 East Maegashira 3 5 10 West Maegashira 6 6 9 West Maegashira 9 12 3 F 2012 West Komusubi 1 5 10 East Maegashira 5 7 8 East Maegashira 6 10 5 East Maegashira 3 3 12 West Maegashira 10 6 9 West Maegashira 13 4 11 2013 East Juryō 3 6 9 East Juryō 7 6 9 East Juryō 9 6 9 West Juryō 12 8 7 East Juryō 11 7 8 East Juryō 11 8 7 2014 West Juryō 8 6 9 East Juryō 11 7 8 West Juryō 11 5 10 East Makushita 3 4 3 West Juryō 14 Retired5 8 2 x Record given as wins losses absencies Top division champion Top division runner up Retired Lower divisions Non participation Sanshō key F Fighting spirit O Outstanding performance T Technique Also shown Kinboshi P Playoff s Divisions Makuuchi Juryō Makushita Sandanme Jonidan Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks Yokozuna Ōzeki Sekiwake Komusubi MaegashiraSee also editList of sumo tournament top division runners up Glossary of sumo terms List of past sumo wrestlers List of sumo elders List of komusubiReferences edit Buckton Mark 5 May 2010 Is ozeki Baruto the man to watch Japan Times Retrieved 31 December 2010 Wakakōyu Masaya Rikishi Information Sumo Reference Retrieved 25 August 2012 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wakakōyu Masaya Wakakōyu Masaya s official biography English at the Grand Sumo Homepage Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wakakōyu Masaya amp oldid 1219279266, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
