Tobizaru

Tobizaru Masaya (翔猿 正也, born April 24, 1992, as ) is a professional sumo wrestler from Japan and wrestles for Oitekaze stable. He made his top division debut in September 2020 and his ''san'yaku'' debut in November 2022.

He is the brother of active wrestler Hidenoumi of the Kise stable; they became the 18th pair of ''sekitori'' brothers in sumo history. Despite the fact that they are in different stables, Tobizaru will not face him in competition as Japan Sumo Association rules prevent close relatives from being matched against each other outside of playoff bouts.

Career

Masaya Iwasaki followed his elder brother Takuya into sumo, joining the same sumo club in his first year of elementary school. He was also interested in baseball, and had thoughts of becoming a professional baseball player, but gave up the game for sumo when he started junior high school. The future Hokutofuji was a contemporary of his at high school. He studied economics at Nihon University and was a member of their sumo team, but weighing only around 110 kg and having to sit out a year with an ankle injury he did not manage to win any major amateur titles. Deciding to turn professional, he opted not to join his brother who was already a ''sekitori'' at Kise stable, preferring the challenge of making his way on his own. Instead he joined Oitekaze stable, also home to Endō who was two years his senior at university. He made his debut in January 2015, competing under his family name of Iwasaki. Upon reaching the ''jūryō'' division after the May 2017 tournament he changed his ''shikona'' to Tobizaru (literally "Flying Monkey") as he was born in the year of the monkey and he considers his darting movement in the sumo ring similar to a monkey. He recorded only six wins and nine losses in his ''jūryō'' debut in July and was demoted back to ''makushita'' in September 2017. His 5–2 record at ''Makushita'' 2 in the September tournament would normally have been good enough for an immediate re-promotion, but there were only two openings and priority went to Takagenji and Takanoshō. Tobizaru had to wait until the March 2018 tournament to return to ''jūryō'', but he has maintained his ''sekitori'' status ever since.

Tobizaru earned promotion to the top ''makuuchi'' division for the September 2020 tournament after a 9–6 record at ''Jūryō'' 2 in July. He and Hidenoumi became the 11th pair of brothers to both have reached ''makuuchi''. Tobizaru said he hoped his brother would be able to earn promotion back to ''makuuchi.'' He was also the tenth member of Oitekaze stable to reach ''makuuchi'' since its founding, the last being Tsurugishō in September 2019. In his ''makuuchi'' debut he came close to becoming the first wrestler since Ryōgoku Kajinosuke II in 1914 to win the championship in his first top division tournament, needing to beat Shōdai on the final day to force a playoff, but he was defeated and finished with a 11–4 record. He was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize.

Tobizaru earned the first ''kinboshi'' of his career when he defeated ''yokozuna'' Terunofuji on the second day of the September 2022 tournament. Due to his strong showing in the September 2022 tournament, finishing with ten wins, Tobizaru was promoted to ''komusubi'' for November, his debut in the junior ''san'yaku'' ranks.

Fighting style

Tobizaru is below the average size for an elite sumo wrestler, being the second lightest ''sekitori'' when he reached ''jūryō'' in 2017, and he stands just tall. He is an ''oshi-sumo'' specialist, preferring to push his opponents rather than grab the ''mawashi'' or belt. He likes to pull his opponents down at the edge of the ring, with a high percentage of his victories being by ''hataki-komi'' (slap down) and ''hiki-otoshi'' (pull down). He is also good at kicks and leg sweeps. His style is fast-paced, and he regularly sidestepped at the initial charge when in ''jūryō,'' but in his ''makuuchi'' debut made a conscious effort to fight more on the offensive.

Career record

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of active sumo wrestlers
*List of komusubi
* Active special prize winners

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobizaru, Masaya
1992 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Tokyo
Nihon University alumni
Komusubi