By William May
（Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public
Information Committee
：wmay52@hotmail.com）
December wrestling news
JWF ANNOUNCES ENTRIES FOR DELAYED NAT'L C'SHIPS
TOKYO (December 28) - The Japan Wrestling Federation has announced
its list of entries for the 2006 national championships, which are being
held in January because of the Asian Games in early December. A total of
92 wrestlers were listed for greco-roman, 99 in freestyle and 56 in the
women's competition scheduled for Tokyo。ッs Komazawa Gymnasium on January
26-28.
In recent years, the national championships have been held around December
23, the birthday of Emperor Akihito. But, because of the scheduling of
the Asian Games in Doha, the JWF decided to postpone the championships
for a month.
The JWF's national team committee pared some of the entries in weight
categories where the total number exceeded 16 or 17. The paring was done
on the basis of the wrestlers's previous records.
Among the entries were two fighters from the mixed martial arts: Norifumi
'Kid' Yamamoto and former Sydney Olympian Kazuyuki Miyata. Yamamoto, at
60 kg in freestyle, and Miyata, at 74 kg, were both entered by recommendation
of the national team committee.
Also, marking a return to the mats will be former national champions
Yuki Iwasaki (GR, 74) and Akihito Tanaka (FS, 120).
In the women。ッs competition, world champions Hitomi Sakamoto and Ayako
Shoda were launch their bids for Olympic team berths against 2004 gold
medal winners. Sakamoto has moved up from 51 to 55 kg to challenge Saori
Yoshida while Shoda returns to 63 kg to renew her rivalry with Kaori Icho.
SCHEDULE CHANGES FOR NAT'L C'SHIPS
TOKYO (December 23) - The Japan Wrestling Federation announced changes
in scheduling for the national championships at Tokyo's Komazawa Gymnasium
on January 26-28.
Further, Nihon Television (NTV) will broadcast matches from all three
days of wrestling. From 1992 to last year, the Japan Broadcasting Company
(NHK) had aired matches from the final day of competition.
The competition schedule will be as follows:
January 26 (Friday) - FS 84, 96, 120; GR 84, 96, 120; W 51, 59, 67;
January 27 (Saturday) - FS 66, 74; GR 55, 66, 74; W 48, 63, 72;
January 28 (Sunday) - FS 55, 60; GR 60; W 55 kg.
The broadcast schedule (times may be changed by stations in some areas):
January 26 (Friday) - 16:00-16:25
January 27 (Saturday) - 24:50-26:20
January 28 (Sunday) - 13:25-14:55
SATO WINS 4TH STRAIGHT COLLEGIATE FS C'SHIP
TOKYO (December 21-22) - Tsukasa Sato(right) won his fourth straight national collegiate championship in freestyle,
but Takao Isokawa led Takushoku University to its first team title in the
event and was named the meet's outstanding wrestler.
Sato of Waseda University, who did not win a high school title while
at Akita Shogyo, rolled over Kazumasa Masuda in the 66-kg final at Komazawa
Gymnasium to become the fourth wrestler to win four straight at the collegiate
national championships.
Previous four-year title winners were Tamon Honda (100 kg, 1981-84)
of Nihon University (Nichidai), Kosei Akaishi (68 kg, 1982-85), also of
Nichidai, and Kunihiko Obata (74 kg, 1999-2002) of Yamanashi Gakuin.
Meanwhile, Isokawa won his third straight championship at 84 kg to pace
Takushoku -- more widely known for its greco-roman wrestlers -- to its
first freestyle national championship. Takushoku, which also got a championship
performance from Koji Sakurai at 74 kg, won with 43.5 points while two-time
defending champion Nichidai came in second with 39 points.
Senshu University was third with 33.5 points and Waseda fourth with
32. Nichidai got a pair of championships from national team members Noriyuki
Takatsuka (60 kg) and Shinya Matsumoto (96 kg) -- both only recently returned
from the Asian Games in Doha.
Takatsuka was a bronze medalist at this year's world championships in
Guangzhou, China, but was knocked out of the running early at the Asian
Games. Matsumoto, who finished fifth at 84 kg in Doha, moved up to 96 kg
and won his third straight collegiate freestyle crown.
Senshu's Nobuyoshi Arakida won at 120 kg to become the 15th first-year
wrestler to win at the Prime Minister's Cup meet.
Results of medal matches:
55 kg (25 entries)
F1 - Kohei Hasegawa (Aoyama Gakuin) df. Shinichi Yumoto (Takushoku), 2-1
(2-0, 3-3x, 4-2)
F3 - Yasuhiro Inaba (Senshu) df. Yuki Sekiguchi (Yamanashi Gakuin), 2-0,
1x-1, 6-0=1:55)
F3 - Kazuhide Tomita (Daito Bunka) df. Kyosuke Horii (Toyo) by TF, 2-0
(9-0=1:59, 7-0=1:26)
TOKYO (December 22) - Yoshitaka Ban of Kansai University was re-elected
as chairman of the All-Japan Collegiate Wrestling Federation at a meeting
of the federation's executive board.
Ban, long recognized as one of wrestling's top international referees,
will begin his second term next year. He currently serves as advisor for
the Kansai University wrestling club.
OLYMPIC SELECTION PROCESS FOR MEN'S TEAM SET
TOKYO (December 19) - The Japan Wrestling Federation approved the selection
process for its men's freestyle and greco-roman teams for the 2008 Beijing
Olympics. Medal winners at the 2007 world championships in Baku will only
need to enter the 2007 national championships in December to be named Japan's
Olympic entry.
Wrestlers who finish in fifth to eighth place will secure a Japanese
berth in the Olympics by winning the national championship title. If another
wrestler wins the all-Japan crown, a wrestle-off will be arranged.
In weight categories where Japan does not qualify at the world championships
for the 2008 Olympics, Japan will have three chances to qualify in 2008
-- at the Asian championships and two Olympic qualifying competitions.
The JWF plans to send the winner of the 2007 All-Japan meet or the runner-up
to these competitions.
If the national champion secures an Olympic berth at these competitions,
it will be his to keep. However, if the national runner-up secures the
berth, a wrestle-off with the national champion will be held for the ticket
to Beijing.
The selection process for the women's Olympic team has not yet been determined.
The schedule of qualifying competitions for the 2008 Olympic Games in
men's freestyle and greco-roman is as follows:
1. 2007 world championships, Baku, September 17-23 (Top 8 places qualify)
2. 2008 continental championships. (Top place-winner of a country not yet
qualified)
-- Asian championships, Seoul, March 18-23
3. 1st Olympic qualifying tournament. (Top four place-winners of countries
not yet qualified)
-- Freestyle - Martigny, Switzerland, April 19-20
-- Greco-roman - Tunis, May 10-11
4. Final Olympic qualifying tournament. (Top three place-winners of countries
not yet qualified)
-- Freestyle - Warsaw, May 3-4
-- Greco-roman - Novi Sad, Serbia, May 24-25
For women, the two Olympic qualifying tournaments will be held in Edmonton,
Canada on May 17-18 and in Haparanda, Sweden on May 31 and June 1. Two
Olympic berths will be at stake in each competition.
JWF APPROVES NSSU 1-MONTH SUSPENSION FOR BAD BEHAVIOR
TOKYO (December 18) - The Japan Wrestling Federation approved a decision
by the East Japan Collegiate Wrestling Association to suspend Nippon Sports
Science University for one month for the misbehavior of a student in November.
The JWF decision, taken at an executive board meeting, however, left the
door open for NSSU participation in the senior national championships on
January 26-28.
The incident in question concerned a first-year member of the NSSU wrestling
team who entered the women's dormitory of the school's gymnastics team
at around 3 a.m. on November 4 and stole some underwear. Dormitory residents
heard a noise and called the police who arrested the young man on charges
of theft.
The university suspended the student indefinitely and ordered the wrestling
club to suspend activities for one month from November 8. The EJCWA also
suspended the NSSU team for one month from November 30 and ordered club
director Hideo Fujimoto and head coach Takumi Adachi to avoid contact with
the club for six months and three months, respectively.
NSSU withdrew from the East Japan freshman-sophomore tournament on December
7-9 and was not allowed to compete in the collegiate national championships
on December 21-22 under the EJCWA's suspension.
The NSSU team was also denied the chance to register for the senior
national championships in January, since this constituted a "club
activity." But since the championships are being held outside of the
period of the suspension, the EJCWA said in its report to the JWF that
it hoped the NSSU students would be allowed to compete.
At the JWF board meeting, former NSSU alum and wrestling team director
Tsutomu Hanahara apologized for the incident and resigned his position
as JWF vice president.
KOREA TOPS ASIAN GAMES WRESTLING WITH 5 GOLD MEDALS
DOHA (December 16) - Korea topped Asian Games wrestling with five gold
medals, three silver and three bronze, followed by Iran (4-5-1) and Japan
(4-2-3). Korea won four gold medals in greco-roman and added a fifth in
men's freestyle, while all four of Iran's gold medals came in freestyle.
Japan won three gold medals in the women's competition and got its fourth
from Makoto Sasamoto in greco-roman. Under FILA's point system, the greco-roman
team title went to Korea, the men's freestyle crown to Iran and the women's
title to Japan.
The top countries by medal count:
Greco-roman - 1. Korea (4-0-0), 2. China (1-1-1), 3. Japan (1-0-2), 4.
Kazahkstan (1-0-0), 5. Iran (0-4-1)
Men's freestyle - 1. Iran (4-1-0), 2. Uzbekistan (2-2-1), 3. Korea (1-2-3),
4(tie). Japan (0-1-1) and DPR Korea (0-1-1)
Women - 1. Japan (3-1-0), 2. China (1-0-2), 3. India (0-1-1), 4(tie). Kazakhstan
(0-1-0) and Korea (0-1-0)
The top countries by placement points:
Greco-roman - 1. Korea (48 points), 2. Iran (46), 3. Kyrgyzstan (45), 4.
China (42), 5. Uzbekistan (38), 6. Japan (33)
Men's freestyle - 1. Iran (59 points), 2. Korea (58), 3. Uzbekistan (50),
4. Kazakhstan (42), 5. India (38), 6. Japan (31)
Women - 1. Japan (39 points), 2. China (32), 3. Mongolia (32), 4. India
(24), 5. Korea (22)
WINNERS AT FALL EAST JAPAN COLLEGIATE FROSH-SOPH MEET
TOKYO (December 7-10) - Winners at the autumn East Japan collegiate
freshman-sophomore wrestling competition at Komazawa Gymnasium:
Greco-roman
55 kg - Toshiyuki Kitaoka, Yamanashi Gakuin
60 kg - Yasushi Ooan, Kokushikan
66 kg - Kazuki Morikawa, YGU
74 kg - Tomoaki Arai, Takushoku
84 kg - Daisuke Sugihira, Kokushikan
96 kg - Maki Kudo, Toyo
120 kg - Nobuyoshi Arakida, Senshu
Freestyle
55 kg - Tsutomu Aoki, Kokushikan
60 kg - Teppei Monya, Nihon
66 kg - Shigeki Ozawa, YGU
74 kg - Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu, Takushoku
84 kg - Kamei Narabe, YGU
96 kg - Ryota Kimaku, YGU
120 kg - Nobuyoshi Arakida, Senshu
TOKYO (December 21-22) - Tsukasa Sato(right) won his fourth straight national collegiate championship in freestyle,
but Takao Isokawa led Takushoku University to its first team title in the
event and was named the meet's outstanding wrestler.