Wakatakakage

is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Fukushima. He made his debut in March 2017 and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in November 2019. He wrestles for Arashio stable, where he is a stablemate of his older brothers Wakatakamoto and Wakamotoharu. His highest rank has been ''sekiwake''. He has four special prizes for Technique. In March 2022 he won his first top division championship.

Family background

The three Onami brothers are the grandchildren of former ''komusubi'' Wakabayama. They were given their ''shikona'' or sumo names by Arashio stable's head coach Ōyutaka, after the three sons of Mōri Motonari in the well-known Japanese parable " Lesson of the three arrows" – Takamoto, Motoharu, and Takakage. The eldest brother, Wakatakamoto, has a highest rank of ''makushita'' 7 and has been in sumo the longest, debuting in November 2009. Wakatakakage and Wakamotoharu are the 19th pair of brothers in sumo to both reach ''sekitori'' level. Wakamotoharu is the second eldest and entered in November 2011, but did not make his ''jūryō'' debut until after Wakatakakage, in March 2019. On the January 2022 ''banzuke'' Wakamotoharu made his ''makuuchi'' division debut. Wakatakakage, the youngest brother, has had by far the quickest rise up the rankings of the three.

Career

He made his professional debut in March 2017, and because of his success in amateur sumo began as a ''sandanme tsukedashi'' entrant. He won the ''sandanme'' division championship in May 2017 with a perfect 7–0 record and also won the ''makushita'' division championship in January 2018 by the same score. He made his ''jūryō'' debut in May 2018, the second to do from Arashio stable after Sokokurai in 2010 and the first from Fukushima Prefecture since Sotairyu in 2009. He rose slowly up the ''jūryō'' division, winning promotion to the top ''makuuchi'' division after a 9–6 record at ''jūryō'' 3 in September 2019. Despite a poor 2–6 start to that tournament he won his final seven matches (including wins over top division veterans such as Toyonoshima and Kaisei) to secure his promotion. He was the third ''sandanme tsukedashi'' entrant to reach the top division after Yutakayama and Asanoyama.

Wakatakakage won his first four bouts in his top division debut in November 2019, but dislocated a joint in his right foot after landing awkwardly during his fourth day win over Terutsuyoshi and had to withdraw from the rest of the tournament. Back in ''jūryō'' he put together two consecutive winning records of 9–6 and 10–5 upon his return from injury to earn promotion back the top division for the (subsequently cancelled) May 2020 tournament at his highest rank to date of ''maegashira'' 14. In July 2020 he completed his first full tournament in ''makuuchi'', posting a respectable 10 wins. In September he was on the leaderboard for much of the tournament, although he picked up his fourth loss to Mitakeumi on Day 14 and finished in a share of third place on 11–4.

On 31 December 2020 – 10 days before the start of the January 2021 ''basho'' - it was announced by the Sumo Association that Wakatakakage tested positive for COVID-19. The entire Arashio stable – along with the Miyagino, Tomozuna and Kokonoe stables – sat out the tournament. He returned in March and produced a 10–5 record, defeating two '' ōzeki'' and receiving the Technique Prize. He earned his second Technique Prize in May 2021 with a 9–6 record and was promoted to the ''san'yaku'' ranks for the first time as ''komusubi''. He was the first from Arashio stable to reach the ''komusubi'' rank since its founding in 2002.

After consecutive winning records at the top ''maegashira'' rank in November 2021 and January 2022, Wakatakakage was promoted to a career-best rank of ''sekiwake'' for the March 2022 tournament.
He followed up this ''sekiwake'' debut by winning his first ''makuuchi'' tournament after producing a 12-3 record and defeating co-leader Takayasu in a playoff, along with receiving his third Technique prize. This marked the first time in 86 years that a newly promoted ''sekiwake'' won the championship (after Futabayama in 1936), as well as the first time in 50 years that a wrestler from Fukushima Prefecture won the championship (after Tochiazuma in January 1972). Wakatakakage failed to defeat ''ōzeki'' Shōdai in the final regulation match (thus missing out on the Outstanding Performance Prize that he would have received with a 13–2 record), but was guaranteed at least a playoff as Takayasu had lost his own match to Abi earlier in the day.

Wakatakakage followed up his tournament win with a 9–6 record in the May 2022 tournament. Maintaining his ''sekiwake'' rank in July, Wakatakakage recovered from losing his first three matches in September to produce an 11–4 record. He received his fourth Technique Prize on the final day.

Fighting style

According to his Japan Sumo Association profile Wakatakakage prefers a ''migi-yotsu'' (right hand inside, left hand outside) grip on his opponent's ''mawashi.'' His most common winning ''kimarite'' are ''oshi-dashi'' (push out), ''yori-kiri'' (force out) and ''okuri-dashi'' (push out from behind). He is below the average weight for a ''sekitori'' at and makes use of his speed and agility.

Career record

See also

*List of sumo tournament top division champions
*List of active sumo wrestlers
* Active special prize winners
*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of sekiwake

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakatakakage, Atsushi
1994 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Fukushima Prefecture
Sekiwake