To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
By William May
（Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public
Information Committee
：wmay52@hotmail.com）
November wrestling news
SAIKAWA COMPLETES COLLEGE WRESTLING GRAND SLAM
NAKATSUKAWA, Gifu (November 8-9) - Norikatsu Saikawa won the 96-kg title
at the collegiate freestyle national championships and became the seventh
wrestler in Japanese wrestling history to snare a collegiate grand slam.
Saikawa of the Nippon Sports Science University won freestyle and greco-roman
titles at the collegiate open this past summer and led NSSU to the team
title in the greco-roman nationals in October with this third individual
championship of the year.
The last wrestler to complete the collegiate slam was Senshu University heavyweight Akihito Tanaka, who won all four titles in 2004.
Saikawa’s heroics, however, were not enough for NSSU to bag its fourth
team title of the year as Takushoku University repeated as team champion.
Takushoku had three individual titlists for 56 points followed by NSSU
with 41.5. Earlier this year, NSSU won the East Japan collegiate title,
the national duals crown and the greco-roman team championship.
Yamanashi Gakuin had one champion with Shigeki Ozawa at 60 kg and finished
in third place with 33 points. Osawa, winner of the men’s senior invitational
last spring, won his second collegiate freestyle title with a win over
Kokushikan upstart Hiroyuki Oda in the 60-kg final.
Oda defeated world bronze medalist and collegiate open champion Noriyuki
Takatsuka of Nihon University on his way to the final. Takushoku’s Kohei
Fujimoto won at 66 kg and was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.
Results of medal finals:
55 kg
F1 - Yasuhiro Inaba (Senshu) df. Naoki Tomioka (NSSU)
F3 - Yohei Fujimoto (Waseda) df. Kazuhide Tomita (Daito Bunka), 2-0 (1-0, 3-1)
F3 - Masanori Ikeda (YGU) df. Shota Nagae (Kokushikan), 2-0 (1-0, 2L-2)
60 kg
F1 - Shigeki Osawa (YGU) df. Hiroyuki Oda (Kokushikan), 2-1 (0-1, 3-0,
4-0)
F3 - Noriyuki Takatsuka (Nihon) df. Atsushi Irie (Doshisha) by fall, 1P=1:54
F3 - Kaoru Anzawa (Waseda) df. Hideyoshi Shimamura (Toyo), 2-0 (1-0, 4-0)
66 kg
F1 - Kohei Fujimoto (Takushoku) df. Shota Shitochi (NSSU), 2-1 (0-1, 1-0, 3-0)
F3 - Kazuki Morikawa (YGU) df. Taiki Matsumoto (Tokuyama), 2-0 (6-0, 6-0)
F3 - Hisashi Aoyama (Toyo) df. Tatsuya Nakamura (Chuo), 2-0 (1-0, 3-0)
74 kg
F1 - Aoi Otsuki (Waseda) df. Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu (Takushoku) by fall, 1P=1:01
F3 - Goki Kudo (Nihon) df. Takaki Yamana (NSSU), 2-0 (4-1, 6-0)
F3 - Yuki Fujimura (Tokuyama) df. Manabu Kamata (Chukyo Gakuin), 2-0 (6-0, 8-0)
84 kg
F1 - Keita Ito (Takushoku) df. Taishi Aoki (Meiji), 2-0 (1-0, 1-0)
F3 - Yoichi Yamagata (Nihon) df. Kei Furuya (Ritsumeikan), 2-0 (1-0, 1-0)
F3 - Shingo Fujinaga (Tokuyama) df. Taiho Sugihira (Kokushikan), 2-0 (1-0, 5-0)
96 kg
F1 - Norikatsu Saikawa (NSSU) df. Kenji Fujimoto (Takushoku), 2-0 (6-0, 7-0)
F3 - Kengo Kamei (Nihon Bunri) df. Yosuke Nasugono (Momoyama Gakuin), 2-0 (1-0, 4-0)
F3 - Takahiro Shimonaka (Kokushikan) df. Shunsuke Hata (Nihon), 2-0 (1-0, 1-0)
120 kg
F1 - Atsushi Nakamura (Takushoku) df. Boris Mujikov (YGU), 2-1 (0-1, 1-0, 1-0)
F3 - Norihiro Sakurai (NSSU) df. Tsutomu Takabayashi (Nihon Bunri), 2-0 (1-0, 2-0)
F3 - Katsuya Kitamura (Senshu) df. Kenta Otaru (Momoyama Gakuin), 2-0 (1-0, 7-0)
WRESTLERS, COACHES IN TOKYO FOR FEMALE CAMP, CLINIC
TOKYO (November 12-22) - More than 50 wrestlers from nine countries and
coaches from 11 countries took part in an international training camp and
FILA’s advanced school for coaches of female wrestling. The training camp
and the seminar sessions, held November 15-18, were staged at the Japan
Institute of Sports Science in Tokyo.
Athens Olympic champion Wang Xu was among China’s squad of top-flight wrestlers, who looked at the camp as an key test with nine months to go until the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Japan invited its top seniors, juniors and cadets to the camp to gain some experience against foreign competition.
FILA RECONFIRMS MISTAKE IN HAMAGUCHI-ZLATEVA MATCH IN BAKU
TOKYO (August 15) - FILA’s officiating chief reconfirmed that a mistake
was made by officials in Baku judging a bout between former world champion
Kyoko Hamaguchi and defending champ Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria. FILA vice
president Mario Saletnig, who also serves as chairman of FILA’s officiating
commission, said that points mistakenly awarded to Zlateva in a scramble
with Hamaguchi should have been reviewed by the officiating crew.
Saletnig was speaking to the Japanese media during FILA’s advanced school
for coaches of female wrestling in Tokyo. After the points in the second-period
exchange were awarded to Zlateva, Japanese coaches called for a review
of the action but were waved off.
Saletnig explained that the members of the officiating crew were not invited
to officiate in next year’s European championships, which will final competition
for the selection of officials for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Zlateva eventually
won the match and went on to repeat as world champion at 72 kg.
EAST JAPAN AUTUMN FROSH-SOPH TOURNEY WINNERS
TOKYO (November 21-22) - Winners at the East Japan collegiate wrestling tournament for freshmen and sophomores at Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo:
Freestyle
55 kg - Taishi Inomata, Nippon Sports Science University
60 kg - Shogo Maeda, NSSU
66 kg - Tatsuya Nakamura, Chuo University
74 kg - Kazuki Morikawa, Yamanashi Gakuin University
84 kg - Seiji Suzuki, Senshu University
96 kg - Atsushi Matsumoto, NSSU
120 kg - Kenji Tanaka, Daito Bunka University
Greco-roman
55 kg - Hideki Tanaka, Takushoku University
60 kg - Takumi Yokoyama, NSSU
66 kg - Yuji Okamoto, Takushoku
74 kg - Tomohiro Inoue, NSSU
84 kg - Atsushi Matsumoto, NSSU
96 kg - Daisuke Sugihira, Kokushikan University
120 kg - Shinichi Hirakawa, Senshu University
SHAKAIJIN OPEN WINNERS
TOKYO (November 23-24) - Winners at the national shakaijin open wrestling championships at the Sports Kaikan in Tokyo:
Freestyle
Men
55 kg - Hiro Watanabe, Japan Self-Defense Forces
60 kg - Takumu Otsu, Starts Group
66 kg - Hidenori Yamamoto, Japan SDF
74 kg - Hiroki Kayamori, Niigata Chuko HS teacher
84 kg - Yusuke Shibue, Matsudo HS teacher
96 kg - Nagatoshi Kobayashi, Inabe club
120 kg - Toru Yukino, Shizuoka club
Women
48 kg - Nodoka Nishi, Waseda University
51 kg - Hiromi Sakurai, Yoyogi club
55 kg - Sachiko Hirata, Hosei University
59 kg - Yukari Ogawa, International Pacific University
63 kg - Karina Takahashi, Waseda
72 kg - Haruka Kanazawa, IPU
Greco-roman
55 kg - Yasuyuki Tanioka, Japan SDF
60 kg - Kosuke Hori, Japan SDF
66 kg - Tetsuhito Nishida, Japan SDF-Kawauchi
74 kg - Shinpei Fujiyama, NSSU graduate school
84 kg - Mitsuhiro Ota, Tsukumi (Oita) HS teacher
96 kg - Naoto Watanabe, Wajutsu Keishukai
120 kg - Hirokazu Shinjo, Japan SDF
RITSUMEIKAN WINS 13TH OVERALL WEST JAPAN COLLEGE CROWN
OSAKA (November 24-25) - Ritsumeikan University of Kyoto won its second straight and 13th overall title in the biannual West Japan collegiate wrestling championships.
Ritsumeikan defeated Tokuyama University 6-1 in the final at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. Chukyo Gakuin edged Doshisha 4-3 for third place.