Kasugao Katsumasa

Kasugao Katsumasa - 春日王克昌 (born July 1, 1977) is a former South Korean professional sumo wrestler from Incheon. He made his debut in November 1998 and wrestled for Kasugayama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 2003 and has 1 special prize. His highest rank was maegashira 3 and he retired in May 2011.

Early Life[]

His father died when he was just three years old and his mother brought the family up alone, working days and nights as a cleaner. He went to Bupyeong High School, as did South Korean footballer Kim Nam-Il, and they remain very close friends. After winning a national Ssireum competition in 1998, he was invited by the stablemaster of the recently opened Kasugayama stable to come to Japan. He saw the opportunity to support his family back in Korea, and took a leave of absence from his university.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his professional debut in November 1998. For his first couple of tournaments he fought under the shikona of Kimu, but this was soon changed to Kasugao, the name adapted from both his stable and his stablemaster's old fighting name of Kasugafuji. Kasugao had a strong start and produced at least six wins or better in his first three tournaments. He was promoted to sandanme in May 1999 and makushita in January 2000. He won the makushita yusho in January 2002 with a perfect 7-0 record and was promoted to juryo in July 2002 which made him the first Korean national to become sekitori.

Juryo Career[]

Kasugao produced a solid 8-7 record in his juryo debut and followed with a strong 10-5 record. In his third juryo tournament, Kasugao won eleven out of his fifteen matches and won the juryo yusho. He won the juryo yusho in November 2002 by defeating Asasekiryu on the last day. On the same day Asashoryu won the makuuchi division title, making it the first time that two foreign born wrestlers had won the top two divisions in the same tournament. Kasugao sent all his prize money of two million yen home to his mother.

Makuuchi Career[]

After moving between the top two divisions a couple of times he won promotion back to makuuchi in September 2005 and reached his highest rank of maegashira 3 in March 2007. He was forced to withdraw from the May 2008 tournament with only three wins, after suffering a knee injury on the 8th day, which resulted in demotion back to the juryo division. He also missed out on an exhibition tour of Los Angeles in June.

He scored nine wins in the July 2008 tournament, returning him to the top division for September, but he could only turn in a disastrous 2-13 there, and was demoted to juryo once again. After four tournaments away, he returned to makuuchi for the July 2009 tournament and came through with a winning record. He applied for Japanese citizenship in June 2009 and became a citizen three months later in September.

A poor 3-12 score in November 2009 saw him demoted to juryo again for the January 2010 tournament, but a 9-6 score was enough for an immediate re-promotion to the top division. On this occasion he lasted only one tournament before being demoted again, but he won promotion to makuuchi for the eighth time in September 2010 after another 9-6 in July. In January 2011 he took his second juryo division championship, more than eight years after his first, with a 12-3 record and a playoff win over fellow Korean Tochinowaka.

Retirement from Sumo[]

After an investigation by the Sumo Association into allegations of bout-rigging prompted by the discovery of text-messages on a mobile phone belonging to former maegashira Kasuganishiki, Kasugao was one of 23 wrestlers and coaches found guilty of involvement. He was ordered to retire, and submitted his letter of resignation on April 4, 2011. His danpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony was held on May 28, 2011, with guests such as Hiroki Matsukata, Yoo Ji-tae and Choi Hong-man attending.

Fighting Style[]

Like many wrestlers, Kasugao was fond of yotsu-sumo or grappling techniques, his most common winning move being yorikiri or force out. His favorite grip on the mawashi was migi-yotsu, with his left hand outside and right hand inside his opponent's arms. However, he was also adept at throws, his next two most often used techniques being kotenage, the armlock throw, and uwatenage, the outer-arm throw.