Sagatsukasa Hiroyuki

Sagatsukasa Hiroyuki - 磋牙司洋之 (born December 21, 1981) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mishima, Shizuoka. He made his debut in March 2004 and wrestled for Irumagawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 2010. His highest rank was maegashira 9 and he retired in September 2021.

Early Life[]

Hiroyuki Isobe was born on December 21, 1981, in Mishima, Shizuoka. He began practicing sumo as a fourth grader. His father encouraged him to drink milk to try to increase his height. In his sixth year of primary school he won a national boys sumo tournament, earning the title of "wanpaku yokozuna" for this accomplishment.^[1]

In junior high school as a representative for Shizuoka prefecture in a national tournament, he won both the team and individual competitions. In his second year of high school in 1998 he took the championship to take the high school yokozuna title.^[2] In his third year, he won a Kanazawa tournament and was chosen for a tournament expedition to China, which was also attended by many future stars in sumo. He defeated the future top makuuchi division wrestler Futeno, and also finished ahead of the future Asashoryu. He was a bronze medallist in the inaugural Junior World Sumo Championships in 1999.^[3] He went on to Toyo University where the future Kimurayama was his teammate.^[4]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Joining Irumagawa stable in March 2004, he was below the official height requirement at just 166 cm but was accepted after passing a secondary examination.^[2] Isobe rose the lower divisions rather quickly and only spent five tournaments in the bottom three divisions, where he did not produce a single losing record, or make-koshi. He was promoted to the makushita division for the March 2005 tournament.^[4]

Screen Shot 2020-12-10 at 8.56.13 PM — Sagatsukasa prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2008)

Isobe continued his impressive winning record, or kachi-koshi streak, and produced four winning records which extended his kachi-koshi streak to nine tournaments. He finally produced his first make-koshi at the rank of makushita 13 in November 2005. In May 2006, he sustained an elbow injury, but recovered and continued to produce strong records.^[5] In July 2007, Isobe won the makushita yusho which boosted him up the ranking to makushita 3 for the September 2007 tournament. In this tournament he produced a 4-3 record after defeating juryo-ranked wrestler Ryuho. This record also secured him a promotion to the juryo division.^[4]

Juryo Career[]

He changed his shikona to Sagatsukasa and made his juryo debut in November 2007. He was the second wrestler to pass the secondary height exam and reach juryo, following Toyonoshima. Sagatsukasa produced a lackluster 6-9 record in his juryo debut and as a result, was demoted back down to the unsalaried makushita division for the January 2008 tournament. He would spend only one tournament in makushita and immediately earned promotion back to the salaried division for the March 2008 tournament. He would stay in the bottom of juryo for five tournaments and was demoted back down to makushita in January 2009.^[4]

Sagatsukasa would spend two tournaments in the unsalaried ranks before getting promoted back to juryo for the May 2009 tournament. However, he fell back down to makushita in July 2009 after only one tournament. During the July 2009 tournament, he produced a 4-3 record and was promoted back to juryo in September 2009. During this juryo stint, Sagatsukasa started to find his stride and after producing three consecutive winning records, he was promoted to makuuchi for the March 2010 tournament.^[4]

Makuuchi Career[]

He lasted only one tournament in makuuchi and a series of poor performances back in juryo saw him demoted to makushita once again. Returning to juryo in May 2011 he won the yusho or championship with a 13–2 record and was promoted back to the top division. He lasted four tournaments at the top before being relegated to juryo for the March 2012 tournament. After six tournament in the second division, the last two of which he achieved consecutive 9–6 records, he was promoted back to the top division for the March 2013 tournament. However, he was injured and missed the last seven days of the tournament and was again relegated.^[6]

Later Career[]

Sagatsukasa12 — Sagatsukasa battles the future Oho (c. 2020)

He only lasted one tournament in juryo and dropped out of the salaried divisions back to makushita in July 2013 where he stayed for the remainder of his career, apart from one brief appearance in juryo in March 2014. Sagatsukasa remained in the mid-level makushita ranks for the majority of his later career and in November 2018 he was promoted to the competitive rank of makushita 3. He faced off against juryo-ranked wrestler Mitoryu, however, he lost and finished with a 3-4 record. In March 2020, Sagatsukasa produced a disastrous 1-6 record and was demoted back down to sandanme for the first time since January 2005.^[4]

Retirement from Sumo[]

Sagatsukasa retired in August 2021 at the age of 39 after finishing the previous month's basho in sandanme with a 6–1 record, ending a professional sumo career spanning 17 years. He decided not to remain with the Sumo Association, instead returning to his native Shizuoka Prefecture.^[2] One year after his retirement, Sagatsukasa's retirement ceremony was held in Numazu, Shizuoka.^[7]

Personal Life[]

In March 2008, the NHK sumo broadcast accidentally showed his shusshin, or birthplace, as Mishima, Saga Prefecture, due to his shikona. He is actually from Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture.^[8]
Sagatsukasa's target wrestler is 49th yokozuna Tochinoumi.^[8]
He is one of the shortest wrestlers in professional sumo at 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in).^[9]

Fighting Style[]

Sagatsukasa's Sumo Association profile lists his favored techniques as kuisagari, an unusual move employed by shorter wrestlers that involves pushing the head against the opponent's chest and grabbing the front part of the mawashi, oshi (pushing) and nage (throwing).^[9] His most common winning kimarite in his career to date have been oshidashi (push out), hikiotoshi (pull down) and tsukiotoshi (thrust over).^[10] In September 2011 he defeated Tochinowaka with the spectacular ipponzeoi move, which had only been seen twice in the top division since 1974.^[11]