Koryu Katsuichi

Koryu Katsuichi - 高竜 勝一 (born January 3, 1970) is a former American professional sumo wrestler from Waimanalo, Oahu, Hawaii. He made his debut in September 1990 and wrestled for Takasago stable. His highest rank was makushita 49 and he retired in May 1997.

## **Early Life**

Eric "Fattabull" Cosier Gaspar was born on January 3, 1970, to Carol Gaspar and Eric Cosier. He was raised in Waimanalo located on the main island of Oahu, but later moved to the island of Molokai to live with his grandparents. He attended Kaunakakai School for the sixth grade and later Molokai High & Intermediate School for seventh grade. He later returned to his parent's home in Waimanalo to attend high school.

Gaspar earned all-state honors as a defensive lineman at Kailua High School where he was teammates with future stablemate Pierson Kekauoha (Nanfu). Gaspar went on to play on the collegiate level at Arizona Western Junior College in Yuma, Arizona, where he was named preseason All America. He had hopes of playing professional football, but blew out the ligaments in one of his legs. After this, he went to Japan in 1989 and was recruited into Takasago stable alongside Tyler Hopkins (Sunahama) and Pierson Kekauoha (Nanfu).

## **Career**

He made his debut in September 1990 under the shikona "Koryu" (高竜), which means Rising Dragon. At the age of 20 he was the oldest recruit and found the bottom three divisions to be quite easy. In his first tournament, he won five of his seven matches which propelled him to the jonidan division. In his jonidan debut, Koryu won all seven matches, but lost a playoff against Edonofuji for the yusho. He would spend five tournaments in the sandanme level and earned promotion to the makushita division in January 1992.

Koryu earned a winning record in his makushita debut and was promoted to a career-best makushita 49 in March 1992. However, he produced a losing record in this tournament and was demoted back down to sandanme. This would be his last appearance in makushita. Koryu spent the majority of his later career bouncing between jonidan and sandanme, and struggled to produce any meaningful results.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Koryu pulled out of the January 1997 tournament due to injury and fell out of the banzuke by the following tournament. His retirement was announced after the May 1997 tournament, which coincided with his stablemate Sunahama's (Tyler Hopkins) retirement.

Upon retirement, Gaspar and his former stablemate and close friend, Tyler Hopkins, opened up a a surfboard and canoe rental business in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii. Gaspar still participated in amateur sumo events/demonstrations alongside Wayne Vierra (ex-Kamikiiwa) and the previous mentioned Sunahama.

## **Fighting Style**

Koryu is a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He won about half of his bouts with a straightforward yorikiri, or force out.

## **Record**

### **Divison Results**

* **Total:** 130-125-11/253 (39 basho)
* **Makushita:** 6-8/14 (2 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 47-61-4/107 (16 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 72-54-7/125 (19 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

## **Gallery**

Koryu (left) with stablemate Nanfu (right) in high school (c. 1987)Koryu returns to Hawaii (c. 1992)Koryu (left) serves as Konishiki's personal attendant (c. 1993)

## **Sources**

* Koryu Katsuichi Rikishi Information
* St. Louis Today Article on Missouri Botanical Garden Japan Festival
* Honolulu Advertiser, *All Work and No Play* by Ferd Lewis
* Koryu Article by Cookie Robbins (1992)