Primary School Banzuke 2019 - Grade 6

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Following on from Tuesday's Grade 5 banzuke, we have here the banzuke for Grade 6. This list is also produced by adding up how well each wrestler did in national level tournaments over the past year, with the Top 32 included in the banzuke. A lot of Komatsuryu Dojo's golden generation are on here, John Gunning must be very proud indeed.

This banzuke takes into account the following tournaments:

• 35th Wanpaku National Championships
• 32nd National Primary School Championships
• 10th Hakuho Cup

 

East Yokozuna - Yamashita Masakiyo (山下 正清), Kagoshima
West Yokozuna - Kikuta Ryuga (菊田 流雅), Ibaraki

East Ozeki - Ito Hirohide (伊藤 博英), Kumamoto
West Ozeki - Kuramochi Yuto (倉持 裕羽), Tokyo

East Sekiwake - Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛), Tokyo
West Sekiwake - Shimajiri Taishi (島尻 大詩), Gifu

East Komusubi - Yamashiro Manatsu (山城 真捺), Okinawa
West Komusubi - Kuraoka Yuta (倉岡 優太), Kumamoto

East Maegashira 1 - Anai Shota (穴井 翔太), Oita
West Maegashira 1 - Okuda Soma (奥田 蒼真), Osaka

East Maegashira 2 - Maro Kosho (マロー 高尚), Aomori
West Maegashira 2 - Yoshioka Ryudai (吉岡 竜大), Chiba

East Maegashira 3 - Otani Natsuki (大谷 夏希), Okayama
West Maegashira 3 - Sakamoto Ryo (坂本 遼), Kochi

East Maegashira 4 - Murakami Kenshin (村上 憲伸), Nagano
West Maegashira 4 - Negami Kohei (根上 航平), Shizuoka

East Maegashira 5 - Noguchi Haruki (野口 明輝), Ishikawa
West Maegashira 5 - Nakazawa Musashi (中澤 睦士), Tokyo

East Maegashira 6 - Inoue Rikiya (井ノ上 力也), Wakayama
West Maegashira 6 - Ino Hibiki (井野 響稀), Aichi

East Maegashira 7 - Handa Shosei (半田 翔誠), Ishikawa
West Maegashira 7 - Furukawa Yuto (古川 勇斗), Fukuoka

East Maegashira 8 - Kiyuna Ryu (喜友名 琉), Saitama
West Maegashira 8 - Yamanouchi Daitoku (山之内 大徳), Shizuoka

East Maegashira 9 - Iwamoto Jin (岩本 仁), Osaka
West Maegashira 9 - Hashimoto Taisei (橋本 泰成), Kumamoto

East Maegashira 10 - Urayama Shoei (浦山 将瑛), Toyama
West Maegashira 10 - Mashiko Takuya (益子 拓也), Tokyo

East Maegashira 11 - Nishimura Kazuma (西村 和真), Kyoto
West Maegashira 11 - Iguchi Itta (井口 一太), Hokkaido

East Maegashira 12 - Kunibe Takuto (國部 巧斗), Ishikawa
West Maegashira 12 - Hori Ryotaro (堀 凌太朗), Gifu

  

Sanyaku Photos

East Yokozuna - Yamashita Masakiyo (山下 正清), Kagoshima



 

West Yokozuna - Kikuta Ryuga (菊田 流雅), Ibaraki

  

 

East Ozeki - Ito Hirohide (伊藤 博英), Kumamoto

 

West Ozeki - Kuramochi Yuto (倉持 裕羽), Tokyo

 

East Sekiwake - Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛), Tokyo



 

West Sekiwake - Shimajiri Taishi (島尻 大詩), Gifu

 

East Komusubi - Yamashiro Manatsu (山城 真捺), Okinawa

 

West Komusubi - Kuraoka Yuta (倉岡 優太), Kumamoto



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Comments

And so we've reached the year group whose graduation from elementary school had been disrupted by You-Know-What. They still had their graduation ceremony, but their parents weren't allowed to participate (credit to my favourite sumo family for this piece of information).

My prediction at the start of the school year would have been that either Kodama Hayato or Kuraoka Yuta would top this banzuke. They were the top two rikishi in this year group, but perhaps equally as importantly, neither of them have EVER lost against Yamashita Masakiyo. During the past season, Yuta out-muscled Masakiyo to win the Wanpaku Tournament, while Hayato out-manoeuvred Masakiyo to win the Primary School Championships.

However, neither of them managed a good result in the Hakuho Cup, which cost them dearly in the banzuke race. Credit to Masakiyo though, who despite riding his luck big time during some of his bouts, managed to win the Hakuho Cup, and with it, secured East Yokozuna by a wide margin.

By "riding his luck", I mean there were quite a few bouts which Masakiyo would have lost on any other day, just not on that particular day. Take his Hakuho Cup quarter-final for example. If it wasn't for referee intervention to avoid a possible neck injury, Masakiyo (on the left) would certainly have been pushed out sooner or later. But in the end, results are what matters, and the large points gap between him and West Yokozuna tells its own story.

 

The past few months has been the same old story for Kumamoto's Ito Hirohide. He carefully works his way through a strong field of opponents, only to come up against Komatsuryu Dojo's Kuramochi Yuto, and then he would give away a morozashi double inside grip, and then he would lose. There's good reason why Chris Gould chose to single him out in his coverage of various amateur sumo tournaments, Hirohide is a very likable character. If it wasn't for the morozashi grips, if it wasn't for that particular opponent, then East Yokozuna would have been in the bag. This video of Hirohide's Hakuho Cup quarter-final pretty much summed up his year. Hirohide's on the right.

 

It's certainly been a turbulent year and a half for one of my favourite Wanpaku rikishi - Tokyo's Kodama Hayato. His sumo journey began with Mitaka Sumo Club, with whom he won countless regional tournaments and multiple national tournaments. His incredible arm strength and a strong desire to win has helped him overcome so many opponents.

However, something strange was going on when he appeared in the 9th Hakuho Cup in 2019 representing Hirao Elementary School (Inagi, Tokyo). Shouldn't he be representing his club, Mitaka? After digging into this, there were talks about the lack of a good practice partner in Mitaka, and even rumours of a dispute between his parents and the coaches at Mitaka. Either way, Kodama Hayato (on the left) is now a member of Fuchu Sumiyoshi Sumo Dojo, who have helped him develop skills and techniques to supplement his strength.

The Golden Generation at Komatsuryu Dojo requires a whole new section to themselves, which is just what I'll do.

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John Gunning has talked many times about Komatsuryu Dojo, the club where he learned his skills as a sumo wrestler. Their strength and depth is famous across the Kanto region, and it was a matter of time that they would be crowned national club champions, which they duly did in October 2019.

As John Gunning puts it - "New movements and ways of lifting or moving were introduced almost every weekend. Muscle groups never got a chance to fall into easy patterns with kid and adult members engaging in proto-CrossFit-style activities on Saturdays and Sundays."

Komatsuryu Dojo already had a Golden Generation a few years back when as many as four club members who were in the same year group were national quarter-finalists. Their current Golden Generation however have been ever better.

Just take a look at this banzuke. Among the Top 32 rikishi in this year group in the entire country, four of them are members of Komatsuryu Dojo - Kuramochi Yuto, Yoshioka Ryudai, Nakazawa Musashi and Mashiko Takuya. Most other clubs don't even have as many talented members on their entire roster, Komatsuryu have four in one year group.

Kuramochi Yuto relies on his skills (and long arms) most of the time, but he does have the power if needed. He's like the Asanoyama of this year group, which is fitting because 2019 was also his break-out year. Just take a look at how Yuto (on the left) dismantled his opponent in this bout. Sure, the double inside grip certainly helped, but he still had a lot of work to do.

 

Not very talkative and not exactly tall is how I would described Yoshioka Ryudai. What sets him apart from most other sumo kids is his ability to analyse an opponent and devise a strategy against them. Facing Kodama Hayato and his incredible arm strength? No problem, I'll just clamp his arms to nullify them. Facing Kuramochi Yuto who's very good on the belt? No problem either, I'll just spin around to escape his belt grip.

His run to the Wanpaku semi-finals last summer was capped off by this amazing bout against former Wanpaku Yokozuna Kodama Hayato. Even the commentator got very excited about that match, he kept on shouting Umai! Umai! Umai! Ryudai, or "Ryu-chan" as he's affectionately known as at this club, is on the right.

 

 

Nakazawa Musashi is probably the least distinctive of the four, but he is at least as deadly. I still remember that time last October when he gave away a morozashi grip to Miyazaki Keijiro at the National Club Championships, but yorikiri'd him anyway. Tachikawa Reisenkan A (my club) went on to lose that match 3-2......

Nakazawa Musashi (on the right), or "Mu-chan" as he is known at this club, unleashes his inner Aoiyama in this bout.

 

Last but not least, we have the huge Mashiko Takuya, the Ichinojo of Komatsuryu Dojo. He used to be the only kid in the entire Kanto region who could beat Kodama Hayato, but their rivalry has been somewhat more one-sided since then. However, Takuya (on the right) is still able to do this to you if you're not careful.