Kongō Masahiro

Sumo wrestler infobox

wrestlername = 金剛 正裕
Kongō Masahiro
realname = Masahiro Yoshizawa
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1948|11|18
placeofbirth = Hokkaidō, Japan
height = height|meters=1.84
weight = convert|116|kg|lb|abbr=on|lk=on
heya = Nishonoseki
rank =
record = 449-414-0
debut = May, 1964
highestrank = Sekiwake (September, 1975)
retireddate = September, 1976
yushos = 1 (Makuuchi) 2 (Juryo) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Jonokuchi)
prizes = Outstanding Performance (3)
goldstars = 3 (Kitanoumi)
update = July 2007

Kongō Masahiro (born 18 November 1948 as Masahiro Yoshizawa) is a former sumo wrestler from Hokkaidō, Japan. His highest rank was "sekiwake". He is now a sumo coach and head of the Nishonoseki stable.

Career

He was born in Fukagawa, and joined Nishonoseki stable (home of the great Taihō) in May 1964 at the age of 15. He initially wrestled under the "shikona" of Oyoshizawa, based on his own surname. He first appeared on the "banzuke" ranking sheets in July 1964 and won all seven of his bouts, taking the "jonokuchi" championship with a perfect 7-0 record. However his progress slowed somewhat after that. In 1966 he made the third "makushita" division, and gradually climbed up to Makushita 3 before dropping to Makushita 6 for the July 1969 tournament. There he took his second divisional championship, again with a unbeaten 7-0 score, and was promoted to the second "juryo" division, giving him elite "sekitori" status. He was relatively light for a sumo wrestler at just convert|82|kg|lb|abbr=on|lk=on. To mark his promotion he was given the new name of Kongo. He remained in the "juryo" division for just over a year, recording a couple of "make-koshi" or losing scores, but in July and November 1970 he won two consecutive "juryo" championships to earn promotion to the top "makuuchi" division.

He had put on a little more weight, and was now around convert|100|kg|lb|abbr=on|lk=on, but he remained in the "maegashira" ranks until May 1972, when a 9-6 score saw him reach the titled "sanyaku" ranks for the first time at "komusubi." He was unable to maintain the rank however, scoring only 5-10. In September 1974 he defeated "yokozuna" Kitanoumi on the opening day, earning him his first "kinboshi" or gold star, and at the end of the tournament he was awarded his first "sanshō" or special prize for Outstanding Performance. He returned to "komusubi" for the following tournament.

The highlight of his career came in July 1975 when he won the top division championship from the "maegashira" 1 ranking. Yokozuna Wajima and ozeki Takanohana both missed the tournament through injury. Kongo defeated Kitanoumi once again on the 7th day and finished one win ahead of fellow "maegashira" Aobajo with a fine 13-2 record. He won his third Outstanding Performance prize and was promoted straight to "sekiwake" for the following tournament. This was to be his highest rank, as he could score only 6-9 in the September 1975 tournament and never managed to return to "sekiwake".

Retirement from sumo

In 1975 Kongo's stablemaster, former ozeki Sagonohana, died and his widow asked Kongo to marry her second daughter and take over the running of Nishonoseki stable.Cite book |author=Sharnoff, Lorna |title=Grand Sumo|publisher=Weatherhill |year=1993 |id=ISBN 0-8348-0283-x] Kongo agreed and he retired from active competition in 1976 at the age of 27. However, before the marriage could be officially registered, the daughter ran out on Kongo and so the widow adopted him as her foster son instead. Kongo has run the stable ever since. Veteran Kirinji, already in the top division when Kongo took over, remained active until 1988, and Kongo produced several other "sekitori", such as Ho-o, Daitetsu and Daizen. However the stable has declined somewhat in recent years, and currently has just five active wrestlers, all in the lower divisions.

Top Division Record

References

ee also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of sumo tournament winners

External links

* [http://sumodb.sumogames.com/Rikishi.aspx?r=4072 Full tournament results]