Masatsukasa Kōshin (born 7 June 1984 as Masahito Ono) is a former

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler from Aomori Prefecture,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. His highest rank was '' maegashira'' 8. He was forced to retire in April 2011 after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association found him guilty of match-fixing.

Career

Born in Fukaura, Nishitsugaru (also the home town of Kaiho, Aminishiki and Asofuji), he made his professional debut in January 2003 joining Irumagawa stable. In his first tournament on the '' banzuke'' ranking sheets in March 2003 he took the '' yusho'' or tournament championship with a perfect 7-0 record. Six consecutive '' kachi-koshi'' or winning scores saw him reach the third highest '' makushita'' division in March 2004 and he became a '' sekitori'' on his promotion to the '' jūryō'' division in September 2005. After three poor performances he was demoted back to ''makushita'' in March 2006 but made an immediate return to the second division, and although he was never able to win more than nine bouts out of fifteen in any one tournament, a series of steady scores took him up to ''Jūryō'' 3. A 9-6 score in May 2008, winning his last four matches, was enough to earn him promotion to the top '' makuuchi'' division for the July 2008 '' basho.'' He scored an impressive ten wins in his top division debut, which resulted in promotion to his highest rank of ''maegashira'' 8, but he had three '' make-koshi'' or losing scores in the next three tournaments, and fell back to the ''jūryō'' division in March 2009. In September he returned to the top division at the very lowest rank of ''maegashira'' 16. He made an excellent start, winning his first five bouts, but eight losses in the next ten days saw him narrowly fail to maintain his ''makuuchi'' position. In July 2010 he secured the ''jūryō'' championship by the 13th day, and was promoted back to the top division at ''maegashira'' 8. However, he was unable to take part in the September tournament due to an injury to his left ankle. Back in ''jūryō'' for the November tournament, he secured his '' kachi-koshi'' by winning his last two bouts to finish on 8-7.

Retirement from sumo

Masatsukasa was one of 23 wrestlers found guilty of fixing the result of bouts after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association, and he was ordered to retire in April 2011.

Fighting style

Masatsukasa favoured pushing and thrusting techniques, with his most common winning '' kimarite'' being ''oshi-dashi'', or push-out.

Family

Upon becoming a ''sekitori'' in August 2005 he revealed that he had been married since May 2003. His wife and his two-year-old son were living with his parents back in Aomori. He did not feel he could say anything publicly before reaching a salaried rank. He first adopted the '' shikona'' or fighting name of Masatsukasa in July 2003. In September 2008 he changed the second part of his ''shikona'' from Tadashi to Koshin, the name of his son.

Career record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masatsukasa, Koshin 1984 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Aomori Prefecture Sportspeople banned for life