Report Card: Hatsu Basho 2024 - Maegashira
It's time to grade all the rank-and-filers from the New Year Tournament.
As we close in on March, and our next Grand Sumo tournament, I am once again rushing to make sure these report cards are done and dusted before the next banzuke drops.
I’m doing something a little different here (a sign of things to come, mayhaps). This report card includes all of the maegashira wrestlers from the Hatsu Basho. And it’s completely free. That’s right, no pay-wall cut off this time. The san’yaku version will be pay-walled, though.
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Anyways, back to the report card. The maegashira ranks underperformed in January with only Onosato able to push himself towards to the front of the pack during the latter stages of the tournament. Despite losing records (and crushing injuries) there were some bright spots among the rank-and-filers, though. Along with the aforementioned Onosato, Shimazuumi, Onosho and Asanoyama gave very good accounts of themselves.
Below you’ll see how I graded each of the maegashira rikishi. And there’s lots of gifs, too!
Enjoy.
Aoiyama
Rank: Maegashira 17 West
Record: 0-7-8
Grade: F
Our first grade is a rather sad one, with Aoiyama looking wounded for his six bouts and then suffering a fall that seemed to make everything worse. He came into the tournament with heavy strapping on his knee. He was clearly trying to protect his knee throughout his bouts. His inability to push off that knee, or brace for impact, meant he was an incredibly easy out for everyone he faced. Against Kotoshoho he took a hard fall off the dohyo and ruptured his ACL. An ACL means about a year on the sidelines in most sports. In sumo, we saw Wakatakakage return after six months. Given his age and physique, I doubt Aoiyama can come back that fast (if he comes back at all).
The gif below cuts off before Aoiyama takes that awkward jump down to the floor, but you can a see how he had no power in that left leg. That prevented him from putting any meaningful power into his trademark thrusts. You can also see he was so worried about further damaging that knee he chose to step back rather than dig his heel in.
Shimazuumi
Rank: Maegashira 17 East
Record: 9-6
Grade: B-
Shimazuumi really impressed me in his makuuchi debut. What Little Vito lacks in size, he tries to make up with speed and activity. Watch below to see how he fended off a bigger and stronger Takarafuji with fast moving feet and grip switches. He also level changed on his final charge.
The bout with Mitakeumi below shows he is pretty strong off the tachai, too. In this bout Shimazuumi exhibited good defense, first in blocking the overarm throw attempt (by turning his body into Mitakeumi) and then by using a grip on the belt to prevent himself sliding past his opponent and over the straw. This all speaks to a lot of engagement and perception from the youngster. We’ll see if this lasts after he gets promoted.
Bushozan
Rank: Maegashira 16 West
Record: 4-11
Grade: E
Bushozan struggled again after being called up to the top division. Just as I said in his last appearance in makuuchi, I don’t think he has his body well enough prepared for this level of competition. He’s got a similar frame to Shimazuumi and Gonoyama, but he has packed on too much weight. This means he is neither strong nor fast enough to pose many problems to wrestlers who are decent in either one of these dimensions. His short arms paired with his top heavy body also means he is very susceptible to hatakikomi finishes.
Unless he makes big changes, the very bottom of the maegashira ranks may be higher than Bushozan’s ceiling.
Takarafuji
Rank: Maegashira 16 East
Record: 6-9
Grade: D
This was not a good basho for Takarafuji, one of my ‘three gatekeepers of the maegashira’’ (along with Sadanoumi and Myogiryu). He really struggled to beat those ranked around him in this tournament, taking losses to both Shimazuumi and Bushozan. He also lost to Tohakuryu, who was called up from juryo for the day.
He just looked slow throughout this tournament. He still has a lot of muscle mass and could probably beat most guys at arm wrestling, but he doesn’t seem to have the juice left in his legs to move all that muscle around as he once did. I think his age and declining potency are also sabotaging his mental game. He must know he’s not long for this sport and it seems as though he might be going through the motions a little bit.
I think you can see a lack of intensity here in this Day 11 loss to Ichiyamamoto. There’s a few points in this bout where Takarafuji stands with his feet very close together. That’s pretty lazy and it leads to him being caught off balance for Ichiyamamoto’s winning slapdown.
That was Takarafuji’s sixth loss of the tournament. He then lost his next three, unable to summon up enough fight to rescue a winning record (despite getting that gimme of Tohakuryu on Day 13).
This record means that Takarafuji, a former sekiwake, is likely to be demoted from makuuchi in March.
Onosato
Rank: Maegashira 15 West
Record: 11-4 (Fighting Spirit Prize)
Grade: B+
On paper, Onosato had a fantastic basho. The youngster blew through the competition before being humbled by the elites of the sport. His gaudy record and Fighting Spirit Prize will ensure he gets a big bump in the next banzuke. And I think he might struggle after that. Hear me out.
Onosato is blessed with a physique that is only rivalled by Kotonowaka and Terunofuji. That, and his athleticism, were too much for his opponents on the the first nine days of the tournament (save for a rejuvenated and very aggressive Onosho).
His wins all looked pretty similar; a fantastic jump and then raw strength to control his opponents’ arms while simultaneously stepping forward. See how he handled Takanosho (no slouch in the shoving game) below:
I think a lot of Onosato’s opponents let him do this, though. After a couple of days it was clear what Onosato was all about and that he had this raw pushing power in his locker. I feel like a lot of opponents were curious about this and wanted to test it for themselves (so they know what to do next time they face him). Others may have wanted to go head to head with him, too, because stepping to the side against a rikishi making only his fifth pro tournament could be seen as unsporting or weak.
Next time out I think a lot of these wrestlers are going to give Onosato a harder time (as we’ve seen with Atamifuji) and not be shy about trying to trick the youngster.
Onosato’s losses this tournament came mostly against wrestlers who really needed to win. Kotonowaka took Onosato’s charge and then backed him down. Terunofuji and Hoshoryu let Onosato charge into danger and then used his momentum to send him to the ground.
I think Hoshoryu wanted to go straight up against Onosato, but once he felt the kid’s strength he had to re-adjust.
Regardless of the context, eleven wins is an amazing achievement for Onosato and I’m happy to give him a very high grade. I’m just saying ‘buyer beware’ on his potential from this moment on.
Tomokaze
Rank: Maegashira 15 East
Record: 5-10
Grade: E
Tomokaze struggled in January, banking a losing record on just Day 9. His losses all came to similarly ranked wrestlers, which is a sign that low maegashira might be beyond his ceiling. However, once he made make-koshi he was able to get some quality wins over Hiradoumi and Mitakeumi.
Tomokaze has good bulk and very strong looking legs, but he’s rather slow and very predictable. Tomokaze’s biggest weakness might actually be… weakness. When he gets all set to push he doesn’t seem to be able to do it with much power. Watch how the smaller Sadanoumi barely moves and has no trouble taking Tomokaze out.
Onosho
Rank: Maegashira 14 West
Record: 10-5
Grade: B
Onosho got off to a hot start this basho, despite the opening day loss to Kotoshoho. He won his next five bouts after that, which included wins over Onosato, Endo and Myogiryu. He was then the beneficiary of two fusen wins (versus Aoiyama and Asanoyama), to help him get to 8-1 on Day 9.
He was then matched with the big boys and predictably fell off the pace. He lost to Kirishima, Terunofuji, Kotonowaka and Wakatmoroharu to bring his record back down to earth. He didn’t look terribly competitive in those bouts, with his head-down-drive-forwards approach failing to blow away strong wrestlers who know how to grapple.
Onosho likes to be the bully in the ring, and can do that very well against smaller and less intense foes. But see what happened against Wakamotoharu below. Wakamotoharu caught Onosho’s charge and pushed him upright. Unable to put his head down and drive, Onosho is easy shoved across the entire dohyo.
This was pretty typical of Onosho, who again shows that he can get these gaudy records when ranked in the lower half of the maegashira. We won’t see this kind of thing from him from March if he’s placed higher than M10.
Kotoshoho
Rank: Maegashira 14 East
Record: 9-6
Grade: C+
I was a little bummed to see Kotoshoho demoted to juryo in November. However, that stint against more manageable competition may have been exactly what he needed. The first half of his 2023 was chaotic with his sumo looking anxious and haphazard. I actually think he lucked his way to that runner-up place in January. In the second half of the year, though, Kotoshoho began to look a lot more composed and calculating in the ring.
He won his third juryo title in November, throwing down Onosato in a play-off. Back in makuuchi in January, Kotoshoho looked both aggressive and calm and he held his own up and down the banzuke. His best win was a Day 12 victory over Wakamotoharu. He was also able to beat the higher ranked Mitakeumi, Sadanoumi and Tsurugisho.
Here’s that Sadanoumi, bout:
I really like how patient he was here. Last year Kotoshoho was over aggressive and usually ended up face down in the clay. Here he locked up Sadanoumi and calmly worked to establish a grip, while also defending Sadanoumi’s attempts to turn the tables.
This bout with Tomokaze also showed off his patience, as he stays tough in front of his opponent and then seizes on an opportunity to side step. This win also showed off some great ring awareness, too, something that was often lacking in 2023.
Endo
Rank: Maegashira 13 West
Record: 5-10
Grade: E
This was Endo’s second 5-10 record in a row and, just like in November, I’m left with big questions over his interest in competing. He looked like he was on autopilot for much of January and, when faced with any opposition, he wilted and rarely tried to fight back when he was put on the back foot.
In this bout with Oho below, Endo looked to turn away from the contact and then gave very little resistance as he was put out of bounds.
This lack of energy and attention extended to his tachiai, too. He was constantly second place in those clashes, jumping late and rarely producing any kind of positive impact.
After going 1-7 he showed signs of life against fellow struggles Tomokaze and Shonannoumi, but he would eventually secure his losing record on Day 11.
Churanoumi
Rank: Maegashira 13 East
Record: 7-8
Grade: D+
Churanoumi failed to build upon his impressive 9-6 makuuchi debut. However, he didn’t look terrible in scraping together a 7-8 record while ranked higher than he had ever been.
His best wins were against Sadanoumi and Mitakeumi. He did get the best of Shodai on Day 15, but Shodai was completely checked out for that match.
Churanoumi took some losses to those ranked below him, including Bushozan, Takarafuji and Shimazuumi. His fatal flaw in lots of his losses were that his legs are often just too far apart.
You can see in this bout with Ichiyamamoto that he took very wide and long steps, leaving himself off balance.
He was also easily put off balance in his bout with Tamawashi. It looks to me that, when Churanoumi makes himself this wide, it’s easy to make his body twist and turn with pushes to his chest and shoulders.
Myogiryu
Rank: Maegashira 12 West
Record: 5-10
Grade: E+
Age seems to be catching up to Myogiryu. He did not look sharp or strong in January. His strapping suggested that he was carrying some injuries, too, possibly in both knees.
His age and battle scars meant that Myogiryu was not capable of putting much power into his pushes. A few years ago a fit Myogiryu was one of the strongest wrestlers in the game (I remember seeing him pull a truck further than anyone else could on one of those variety shows). Without that strength, though, there’s not much left to Myogiryu’s game.
Watch the bout with Kinbozan below. He actually got some good positions here, making Kinbozan miss and lean a few times. But when he tried to capitalize on it, his pushes couldn’t move Kinbozan. And when Kinbozan got a chance to respond, Myogiryu flew off the ring.
Myogiryu only has two kachi-koshi in the last seven tournaments, so it might be the beginning of the end for him as a makuuchi level gatekeeper.
Takanosho
Rank: Maegashira 12 East
Record: 10-5
Grade: B
Takanosho scored an impressive mark on paper in January. However, I think it was mostly because he was ranked the lowest he’s been since 2019. His aggression and forward charge are strong enough weapons to beat up on the wrestlers he finds around M12, but he continues to look out of his depth when he comes anywhere close to a true elite.
I think a big reason for that is his lack of fight IQ. Against Hoshoryu, someone he needed to beat to prove he was worth paying attention to this tournament, he steam-rolled right into Hoshoryu’s wheelhouse. Surely, Takanosho should have understood what was coming when Hoshoryu pinned his left arm and got a hold of his belt. However, instead of trying to break the hold he just kept chugging forwards, allowing Hoshoryu to take him for a ride over his thigh.
Takanosho is 2-5 against Hoshoryu and every loss has been some kind of throw. The phrase ‘fool me once…’ seems apt here.
Oho
Rank: Maegashira 11 West
Record: 10-5
Grade: B+
Oho remains really hard to figure out. His 10-5 in January follows an 8-7 in November. In 2023 he struggled when he reached career high ranks of M8, M7 and M6, but at this next step down he seems to have figured things out.
He has incredible size and reach. However, his slow twitch muscles fail to make the most out of all of that. When he gets his hands on you he can really push with a lot of power, but he’s often too slow getting there and he rarely lands thrusts with enough snap and intensity to change a bout on its head (like the Takakeishos and Tamawashis of this world).
Oho has a bit of a gentle giant vibe, which many rikishi have outside of the ring. When he brings that gentleness into the ring, though, he can look timid and short of confidence.
Here’s an example of his slow gentle sumo, which looks quite graceful when it all comes together (which it did for most of January).
Tsurugisho
Rank: Maegashira 11 East
Record: 9-6
Grade: C
This was another basho where Tsurugisho’s sheer mass and impressive relative foot speed made up for his lack of agility and flexibility. It was another basho he got through unscathed, too, which I think is remarkable since he rarely seems to lift, push or throw from his knees — it’s always from his lower back.
9-6 is a nice record for Tsurugisho, especially since it matches his 9-6 from November. He was able to stay consistent despite a slight promotion. It was also nice to see him succeed at M11, given that he had his worst performance of 2023 when ranked previously ranked there (5-10).
He picked up some nice wins in January, too, with a forceful yorikiri on Kinbozan and a nice slap down on Shodai.
Sadanoumi
Rank: Maegashira 10 West
Record: 6-9
Grade: D
Sadanoumi, the last of my three gatekeepers, also left the January tournament with a losing record. Though, unlike the others, he fought like hell to prevent that. Sadanoumi is getting up in age, just like Takarafuji and Myogiryu, but he’s not fallen off as steeply as those two. The reason for this is because Sadanoumi’s game is based around intensity and he can bring that at any age. Despite being as ornery as ever, Sadanoumi’s pace and reaction speed are slowing. But even so he was able to bank some nice wins over quality opposition (Tamawashi, Ichiyamamoto).
He went on a five day losing skid at the beginning of the basho. That put his back against the wall rather quickly. However, he rallied and was able to make it to Day 11 with a 4-7 record.
He won his next three bouts over Takarafuji and Tomokaze to stave off the make-koshi.
Here he is taking the fight to Tomokaze.
The day after those bouts he was matched up with the 10-4 Onosato (I have no idea why) and a loss to the big powerful rookie clinched the losing record.
Tamawashi
Rank: Maegashira 10 East
Record: 8-7
Grade: C
Tamawashi looked great in January, following up his 9-6 from November with 8-7. He did this from a pretty decent ranking, albeit one lower than he had been used to from the previous year.
Despite being the oldest man in the competition, Tamawashi is still capable of wrecking young bucks who don’t have the guts or experience to stand up against his stiff nodowa assault.
Below you can see Tamawashi lock onto Shonannoumi’s throat off the tachiai. See how he pivoted as he caught him, too. This way he avoided the brunt of Shonannoumi’s charge and immediately set up a good angle to thrust his opponent out of the ring.
Tamawashi struggled with the two best opponents he faced in January (Kirishima and Wakamotoharu), but you can’t be too mad at that. He was also able to beat Asanoyama, Atamifuji and Mitakeumi (who he has a shocking 8-29 record against).
He got to eight wins quickly this tournament and then took his foot off the gas a little, leading to his bare minimum kachi-koshi.
Meisei
Rank: Maegashira 9 West
Record: 9-6
Grade: C+
Meisei had a very up and down 2023. He got off to a good start in 2024 with a strong showing in January. There’s nothing too special to Meisei’s game, but when he’s on he is a tough out for anyone.
He pairs a very aggressive tachiai with furious hand activity. Below you can see him meet his mirror image in Hiradoumi. He’s able to get the win here because he has a physique advantage over Hiradoumi and was able to really move his opponent when he was able to connect with his shoulder and thrust through it.
He wasn’t tested with elite competition this basho. Meisei has struggled a lot against the san’yaku (even as a sekiwake) so it will be interesting to see if he can string together more kachi-koshi as the quality of his opposition climbs.
Mitakeumi
Rank: Maegashira 9 East
Record: 6-9
Grade: D+
After two winning tournaments in a row, Mitkeumi slumped to 6-9 in the hatsu basho. In doing so, he took a lot of losses to guys he should have beaten. He has almost 30 wins over Tamawashi in his career, but wasn’t able to get that here. He also lost to the much smaller Ichiyamamoto and Shimazuumi, as well as the strugglers Churanoumi, Tomokaze and Takarafuji.
His best win of the tournament was a powerful display over Nishikigi. Nishikigi is an expert at slamming on the brakes when he hits the boundary and then responding with a powerful bout winning thrust.
Mitakeumi got him to the edge quickly here and then pulled off a great turn as Nishikigi came forwards. When Nishikigi tried to respond to the turn, Mitakeumi was on him sharply and able to take him out.
This mix of strength and speed was not typical for Mitakeumi this tournament, though. Often he looked slow and unable to really capitalize on how much size and strength he has.
Hiradoumi
Rank: Maegashira 8 West
Record: 8-7
Grade: C+
The 23-year-old Hiradoumi had a successful 2023. He spent the entire year in the top division, getting as high as M5. It’s impressive that he has been able to stay in makuuchi since his promotion in late 2022 and that he has been able to bend, not break, every time his level of competition ratcheted up a notch.
His greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. He is a guy with only one gear and one direction. Thanks to the intensity he brings every bout that’s often enough to blow through guys. However, he often gets in trouble against the smarter, craftier wrestlers he faces. He can also struggle to beat guys who are too big to back down easily.
A nice exception to this was his win over Abi in January. He blasted forward against Abi and showed that he is fine with absorbing shots to the face. What I liked here is that Hiradoumi didn’t take the bait and put his head down to charge forwards (which would have resulted in Abi pushing his face down in the dirt), instead he did what Abi didn’t expect — step backwards. In doing so he created more space than Abi was expecting.
That hatakikomi on Day 15 was Hiradoumi’s first ever win over Abi (in three bouts). He also faced Tobizaru for the first time in his career, and won.
I’m taking this as a sign that Hiradoumi is ready for a step up in competition and may be ready to start adding some refinement to his game.
Hokuseiho
Rank: Maegashira 8 East
Record: 2-4-9
Grade: E
Hokuseiho bowed out of the competition on Day 6 after going 2-2. In his bouts he looked as if he was continuing his backslide into his lean and stall brand of sumo, which is both tiresome to watch and not incredibly successful.
My bad grade is the least of his worries, though. He is currently embroiled in a bullying investigation that could cost him his entire career.
Asanoyama
Rank: Maegashira 7 West
Record: 9-3-3
Grade: B+
When Asanoyama didn’t come out to compete on Day 9, it hurt. He was 7-1 at that point. The only blemish was a Day 8 loss to Tamawashi, which happened after Asanoyama’s knee seemed to buckle.
Up until that point he was my front runner to win this entire competition. Even though his first seven bouts were against opponents ranked M5 and lower, he looked incredible. He was quick off the blocks and was absorbing guys before marshalling them out quickly, while deftly blocking off their escapes.
Check out his win over Hiradoumi below. The younger man never stood a chance.
Asanoyama returned on Day 13 and was greeted with the always tough Gonoyama. Asanoyama took the youngster’s best shot and then carefully secured his grip for a kotenage. I love the speed in Asanoyama’s hips and feet when he snaps that throw into action.
Asanoyama would then beat Atamifuji. He lost to Daieisho on the last day. If he hadn’t gotten injured I think he would have made a big impact in the final few days of the tournament. He usually gets thrown over by Kirishima and Hoshoryu, so I was eager to see if he could have carried this frighteningly good form into bouts with those two. Hopefully we get to see that in March instead.
Ichiyamamoto
Rank: Maegashira 7 East
Record: 5-10
Grade: E
After his career best tournament, Ichiyamamoto was advanced half way up the banzuke. All that served was to remind us that the upper half of the maegashira ranks is above what Ichiyamamoto’s ceiling is as a wrestler.
His tricky harite based game, and fleet of foot, were good enough to win juryo last year and to bamboozle the lower half of the maegashira (which is stocked with guys with either too little or too much experience).
He struggled with wrestlers ranked in the middle of the pack, losing to the likes of Ryuden, Sadanoumi and Myogiryu. A lot of his losses stem from his lack of strength. His legs and thighs are very thin compared to his competitors. Without that muscle mass down low he’s not able to put much oomph in his strikes. Since those strikes don’t have the power to move folks back, they are mostly deployed for harassment sake as Ichiyamamoto looks to make his opponent lean too far back or forwards. When opponents don’t heed his hands, though, there’s little Ichiyamamoto has left to threaten them with.
This tournament we got to see Ichiyamamoto versus the man whose represents the pinnacle of his fighting style. You can see the difference in muscle tone in Abi and Ichiyamamoto and that’s the reason why when Abi hits, Ichiyamamoto moves back.
Shonannoumi
Rank: Maegashira 6 West
Record: 4-11
Grade: F
I was very disappointed with Shonannoumi’s display this tournament. If he wasn’t carrying an injury this tournament there have to be serious questions about his desire and enthusiasm for the sport.
Too often in January he seemed incapable of taking the fight to his opponent. Whenever he was pushed back or forced upright, he would just freeze with seemingly no idea of how to get back into the fight.
In this bout with Nishikigi he goes for a belt grab, but is blocked. He’s then easily walked out of bounds.
Against Endo, Shonannoumi is pushed very far back off the tachiai and then he steps out of bounds. His lack of attention for the start of this bout, paired with his lack of ring awareness, are quite troubling.
The reason I’m so dismayed by all this is because I was very excited for Shonannoumi when he came up to makuuchi last year. He looked sensational in his first tournament, as he mixed his heady grappling with an incredible physical profile.
Since then, though, he’s looked timid and out of his depth. After this display he might be fighting for his top division status in March.
Kinbozan
Rank: Maegashira 6 East
Record: 7-8
Grade: D+
Kinbozan continues to survive in the top division, while trying to figure out his sumo. And I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. We’ve seen a few wrestlers come into makuuchi, have hot starts and then struggle once the field starts to take them seriously (Atamifuji, Shonannoumi). However, Kinbozan has managed to survive and fly under the radar since his impressive 11-4 debut back in March.
In his second top division tournament, when he was ranked M4, he really struggled. But since then he’s held his own against the maegashira ranks, going 7-8, 9-6 and 8-7 to work his back up to M6 for this tournament.
For this tournament he met a few very tough opponents, including Terunofuji, Daieisho and Asanoyama. So I can’t be too mad that he came within one win of a kachi-koshi.
He’s a big and powerful kid, but at the moment we haven’t seen much diversity in his game. I think he could do well if he modelled his game on the similarly sized Kotonowaka and added some unpredictable offence to his game, perhaps in the form or slapdowns, hand pulls and arm drags.
If he studied how to pull off these kinds of moves, maybe he would be less susceptible to getting fooled by tricky moves like this one from Tobizaru:
Nishikigi
Rank: Maegashira 5 West
Record: 8-7
Grade: C
The Nishikigi rehab tour continues and he is looking very close to his best. His calf injury zapped a lot of power from his sumo late last year, resulting in back to back make-koshi. That injury happened after his standout July tournament where he beat Terunofuji and was close to winning his first championship.
When he’s fit, Nishikigi is a rock boulder of a wrestler who can prove impossible to push out. His powerful lower body allows him to sit down on his weight and put the brakes on when he’s being pushed to the edge. And his long arms and tight grip allow him to keep control of his opponents when he starts to tippy-toe forwards on route to the push/force out.
This Ryuden bout is a good example of how unmovable he can be.
Against Atamifuji, Nishikigi showed off his vice-like grip, which he used to keep Atamifuji in front of him while marching him out.
I’m excited to see Nishikigi in the next tournament, assuming he is pretty much all healed up. Fully healthy, he’s a problem for the san’yaku.
Ryuden
Rank: Maegashira 5 East
Record: 3-12
Grade: F
Ryuden is just not very good. He’s a little like Kinbozan in that I don’t think he knows what his sumo is. However, Ryuden has been doing this a lot longer than Kinbozan. This might be because Ryuden has had some catastrophic injuries in his career, some which may have forced him to approach sumo, both in practise and in competition, in new ways.
Even so, the Ryuden we see on the dohyo is one who is rarely able to execute on pushing/thrusting (opponents are often able to fight back from the straw). When it comes to grappling, Ryuden is likely to over-reach/lean (like he does versus Abi below) or get stuck in a position and not realize he is being set up for a finisher (see Ura on Day 15).
Ryuden is becoming a bit of a yo-yo in the rankings. He will get double digits when he can avoid the san’yaku, but if he’s ranked higher he gets squashed. He’ll probably go down to around M11 in the next tournament and get back to winning ways (only so he can follow that with losing ways).
Shodai
Rank: Maegashira 4 West
Record: 4-11 (kinboshi)
Grade: E
Shodai… After a year of mostly disappointing appearances, Shodai started January with his worst record since his nightmarish runs as an ozeki in 2022.
When Shodai is bad he looks like he is sleepwalking through his bouts. He takes most of his naps when battling close to the straw. When he takes an opponent there he really struggles to notice or prevent them escaping.
See how Atamifuji doesn’t have to do much with his feet to circle Shodai out. He just steps to the side, but Shodai seems powerless to do anything about it.
Against Ura he gets pulled towards the straw and then trips over Ura’s standing leg.
I think this lack of attention to detail is going to continue to hold Shodai back. Though, his raw size and strength are usually enough to stop him slipping too far down the rankings.
This tournament Shodai was also able to score a gold star win over Terunofuji, a wrestler he has a startlingly good record against. I think Shodai’s success against Terunofuji is down to Shodai being able to match him for strength while not needing to worry about getting into a foot race.
Tobizaru
Rank: Maegashira 4 East
Record: 7-8
Grade: C
I am not going to say anything bad about Tobizaru.
Tobizaru brought the chaos in January and I couldn’t be happier. Sure, he finished 7-8 but he fought like hell and got some decent wins, like this ferocious shove out on Midorifuji:
And this bizarre hop back slap down on Nishikigi…
Tobizaru’s battle with Terunofuji is one of the moments I’ll remember from this tournament for a long time. I don’t want to rehash all the details of their feud, but anytime they meet from now on you need to expect a bitter fight with both guy doing whatever they can to win.
I love that Tobizaru came for the yokozuna, despite the harsh — and hospitalizing — punishment he received previously. Tobizaru could have very easily given Terunofuji a meek match where he simply tried to push him out and settled for a boring defeat. Many would have forgiven him for showing deference to the yokozuna and for trying to ensure he didn’t get more hazing treatment from him out on tour. But the Flying Monkey wasn’t going to do that. Despite what retribution it might trigger, Tobi put everything into beating Terunofuji and targeted his banged up knees.
Terunofuji was incensed and tried to take off Tobizaru’s head. But, come on, now. This man tries to rip guys’ arms out of their sockets. I don’t think he has much license to get upset about someone fighting hard and trying to win.
Tobizaru is a very fun guy to follow in this sport. But make no mistake. He’ll f**k you up. And I’m just awed by the guts he showed in trying to prove that to everyone (including Terunofuji) this basho.
Hokutofuji
Rank: Maegashira 3 West
Record: 4-5-6
Grade: C-
Hokutofuji starred in one of the many bummer storylines of the January basho. He was looking great, and back to his most furious self, before he was cut down by yet another injury.
In the previous tournament he carried a nagging knee injury that seemed to sap much of his strength and intensity. In this tournament, though his knee was heavily strapped, he seemed to have plenty of strength and zip.
Watch how he went hard into Daieisho below, then halted his charge before responding with an epic push that almost took Daieisho off his feet.
Hokutofuji scored wins over Ura, Abi and Midorifuji while being cut down by Terunofuji, Kirishima and Hoshoryu. Against Hoshoryu he tweaked his knee and took a very scary fall to the floor. He would exit the competition the next day.
It’s a shame his tournament was cut short. With the big names mostly out the way, and him showing so much fire, I think he could have recorded a good number of wins this tournament.
Gonoyama
Rank: Maegashira 3 East
Record: 5-10
Grade: D+
Gonoyama had been doing very well in his progress up the banzuke, having reached the makuuchi last summer. In January he had his first hiccup. This is only the second losing record of his young career. The first was an injury induced 2-3-2 back in makushita.
Gonoyama had been impressive in maintaining a winning record while climbing from M13 to M3. But in January he was a little exposed, especially against elite wrestlers who had now seen him once or twice before.
The scouting report on Gonoyama is simple. He’s fast, strong and he only knows one way to go: forwards. There are lots of wrestlers like that, but Gonoyama may have the quickest foot speed among them.
See below how quickly he’s able to push back Hoshoryu for his best win of the tournament.
Hoshoryu likes to try and beat guys where they are best. So we can partly chalk this win up to Hoshoryu’s hubris.
When Gonoyama faced elites who still looked to deploy their own brand of sumo, he struggled. See how Kirishima greeted Gonoyama’s tachiai with a palm to the face and then forced him to battle for belt grips (which is way out of Gonoyama’s comfort zone). While Gonoyama is unsure about what to do with the belt, Kirishima seized on him and took away all his real estate. Kirishima also gave him a little extra nudge on the way out (not the first time an elite has sought to put Gonoyama in their place).
5-10 is a bad record, but it can also serve as a good learning experience for Gonoyama. He’s pretty one dimensional, but I still think he has a future in the san’yaku. And I think the elites know that, hence their rough treatment of him at times.
Abi
Rank: Maegashira 2 West
Record: 8-7
Grade: C+
Abi did his thing in January. And this time his hit and miss approach hit just enough to get him a winning record. There’s not much new I can write about Abi, since he seems very comfortable with the style he has shown us over the last few years. And if he is satisfied with flirting around the komusubi rank and getting a title once in a blue moon, then there’s no reason for him to switch up his style.
In January he got off to an awful start, losing five in a row. Though, that was against Kotonowaka, Daieisho, Terunofuji, Hokutofuji and Kirishima. He then got a win over Hoshoryu (his best win of the tournament), lost to Atamifuji and then went on a seven fight win streak to secure kachi-koshi.
Here’s the win over Hoshoryu. I think this is another example of Hoshoryu trying to prove he can beat someone no matter what, instead of playing to his strengths and his opponents’ weaknesses.
Hoshoryu did nothing to prevent Abi locking onto his throat (compare this to how Kirishima routinely slaps Abi’s hands to the side off the tachiai). From there Abi was able to hold Hoshoryu up (who stubbornly refuses to move back or to the side) and then create space for the ozeki fall into.
Midorifuji
Rank: Maegashira 2 East
Record: 5-10
Grade: D
Midorifuji followed up a fantastic November with another dud of a tournament this January. I had high hopes that Midorifuji, who looked very slick in November, had figured out his gameplan for the expected jump in the rankings/quality of opposition.
But the same thing happened in January that happened the first time he was ranked around M2. Midorifuji was unable to get wins against the biggest names and he looked more hesitant to attack with hikiotoshi and katasukashi, moves he uses to feast upon lower ranked opponents.
His tournament started with Takakeisho, Hoshoryu and Kotonowaka and all were able to handle him quite efficiently. Kotonowaka was even able to finish him with the katasukashi. He then beat Kirishima, someone he seems to always do well against.
From then on he struggled against a field of wrestlers who were ranked around him, which is a pretty good sign that Midorifuji is still not ready for this level of competition (or to seriously contend for a championship).
Against the better wrestlers in the division, Midorifuji’s size disadvantage is magnified. Guys who are savvy enough to sense what Midorifuji is going for are able to use brute strength to squash those attempts (and often Midorifuji, too).
Against Wakamotoharu, Midorifuji immediately gripped the front of his belt and hoped to steer him around towards the boundary. However, when he tried to attack Wakamotoharu’s upper body, Wakamotoharu refused to budge and was able to plow through Midorifuji. Against these bigger, stronger, and often smarter, guys Midorifuji should be looking to keep distance and seize opportunities during moments of transition and chaos (as fellow small man Tobizaru does).
Atamifuji
Rank: Maegashira 1 West
Record: 6-9
Grade: D
Atamifuji looked very average in January, which is a far cry from how special he looked after returning to makuuchi late last year. In the previous two tournaments Atamifuji was a contender for the title, only to lose out both times due to nerves and an inability to execute in the clutch.
In this tournament he didn’t have to wait to face off with the elites. He was given them from Day 1. And he had a very tough time with them.
We was quickly 0-4 after losses to all three ozeki and then this beating by Kotonowaka below:
The loss to Kotonowaka is quite indicative of Atamifuji’s whole basho. He just didn’t seem as strong or as quick off the tachiai as he did in his last two tournaments. Without that amazing blitz, opponents had time to brace for impact and set up positions they could use to take down the still very green prospect.
Without that force off the opening clash, Atamifuji was also forced into more stationary clinches. Those required him to dig deep for a second wind and try to force someone back form a standing position. You can see, below against Nishikigi, that he wasn’t that effective at this.
This was Atamifuji’s first tournament as a high ranked wrestler, so I don’t want to throw out any thoughts I had about him being a future champion. He still has a lot of ability (and an amazing physical profile) and hopefully exposure will help him get over the nerves that sabotaged him last year.
Wakamotoharu
Rank: Maegashira 1 East
Record: 10-5 (Outstanding Performance Prize, Kinboshi)
Grade: A-
I loved what I saw from Wakamotoharu in January. It was a huge relief to see him back to his best after a November tournament where he looked sloppy, timid and, at times, miserable.
In January, Wakamotoharu fought like a badass. He was very strong in the tachiai, deploying a forearm/shoulder strike to shock and soften up his opponents. After disrupting their flow he was great at getting his hands on their belts, or their chest, and forcing them out with his favored yorikiri.
You can see against Kotonowaka below that the impact Wakamotoharu created with the tachiai created a window for him to first strike, then redirect, and then get in position for the push out. Along with his losses to Terunofuji, this was the only time Kotonowaka lost in January.
Against Takayasu, someone who sometimes deploys the same forearm shot in the tachiai, Wakamotoharu leads with his head. That’s a horrible technique for one’s health, but rikishi rarely seem to worry about that. Just like he did with Kotonowaka, though, he used his strikes to create an opening for a bear hug. It’s impressive that he was able to push Takayasu (who is very strong) out so quickly from this position.
Wakamotoharu will likely be a komusubi again in March. And I hope he’s able to deliver again. He’s a san’yaku wrestler, through and through.
That’s all folks. Thanks for getting through this mammoth list. Let me know if you like having the maegashira graded like this or would prefer them separated into smaller chunks.
Next up is the report card for the san’yaku.
Last I heard, my personal favorite fighter, Wakamotoharu's little brother Wakatakakage, is recovering from his ACL tear and back participating at the juryo level. With all those top-level fighters out with injuries, I wonder if we might see him do a fill-in for a match or two in March? I would be thrilled to see him again!
Excellent writeup! I enjoy the detailed analysis, which I don't have the background to perform.
I always learn many things from your writing.