Dewahayate Ryuji

Dewahayate Ryuji - 出羽疾風 龍二 (born January 31, 1989) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Okazaki, Aichi. He made his debut in March 2004 and wrestled for Dewanoumi stable. He reached the juryo division in November 2014. His highest rank was juryo 9 and he retired in May 2019.

## **Early Life**

Suzuki was born the youngest of two brothers. He attended Otsuka Municipal Mutsumi Northern Elementary School and played baseball there since his third year till graduation from Otsuka Municipal Mutsumi Kita Junior High School. The position he played was left fielder. He was also interested in martial arts due to his older brother who enjoyed watching boxing. He visited Dewanoumi stable during a school trip. After junior high school graduation he joined the stable and made his debut in March 2004.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Suzuki debuted under the shikona Suzunoumi. In his jonokuchi debut he scored a 5-2 record and was promoted to jonidan, however he suffered his first make-koshi and was demoted back down to jonokuchi. He produced a 4-3 record and was promoted back to jonidan. He changed his shikona to Dewahayate in July 2006. He would spend over two years in jonidan before scoring a 5-2 record at jonidan 9 which earned him promotion to sandanme for the march 2007 tournament. Dewahayate would spend 2 years in sandanme before reaching the makushita division in January 2009.

Makushita proved to be a little to hard for dewahayate and he would spend another year in sandanme before getting promoted back to makushita in the September 2010 tournament. However he still struggled and was demoted back to sandanme. After the 2011 match-fixing scandal, a simple 5-2 record at sandanme 4 propelled him all the way to makushita 33. He continued to impress and scored a 5-2 record and was promoted to makushita 19. After this little run, Dewahayate solidified himself as a makushita regular. He remained in makushita and produced mixed for the next two years.

Dewahayate went on a little run in 2013 after scoring three consecutive winning records, he was promoted to makushita 5 and was at the brink of sekitori status. In 2014, Dewahayate procured 4 consecutive kachi-koshi incurring wins over juryo ranked wrestlers Yoshiazuma and Akiseyama. A 4-3 record at makushita 2 earned him a promotion to juryo for the November 2014 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Dewahayate's juryo debut didn't go very well. He lost his first match against Kagayaki and in his second match against Tochihiryu, he sprained his left ankle and pulled out on the third day. He returned on the sixth day and finished with a 5-8-2 record (equivalent to 5-10) and was demoted back down to the unsalaried makushita division.

He bounced back with a 7-0 record and the makushita championship and was promoted back to juryo for the May 2015 tournament. He won his first match back, but lost nine straight and finished with a 4-11 record and was demoted back down to makushita.

It would take him three tournaments to earn promotion back to the juryo division. In the January 2016 tournament he scored a 8-7 record which was his first kachi-koshi at salaried level. The next tournament he finished with a career best 9-6 and was promoted to juryo 9 for the May 2016 tournament. However he finished with a 7-8 and followed with a 3-12 record which demoted him out of the juryo division. This would be his last tournament ranked as a sekitori.

### **Later Career**

Dewahayate remained in the upper makushita level for around 2 years and was promoted to makushita 2 for the March 2018 tournament. Even though he finished with a 3-4 record, he still defeated juryo ranked wrestler Akiseyama. He would remain in makushita for a little over a year. He wrestled his last tournament in May 2019 and won his last match against former juryo wrestler Tokushinho

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Dewahayate handed in his retirement papers and the Japan Sumo Association announced his retirement on May 25, 2019. His retirement ceremony was held on September 1st with 200 guests attending, including stablemate Mitakeumi. In his ceremony he said, "When I first started, I didn't think I would make it pass sandanme. I am happy that many people supported me, and I want to give back the favor." After sumo, he intends to obtain a qualification to become an acupuncturist.

## **Personal Life**

* Dewahayate's favorite food is omelet rice.
* Dewahayate's hobbies include watching sports, especially mixed martial arts.
* In March 2014, as an active wrestler, Dewahayate graduated a correspondence course at the NHK Gakuen High School.

## **Fighting Style**

Dewahayate has shown a preference for yotsu techniques which involve grasping his opponent's mawashi or belt. His most common winning technique is yorikiri (frontal force out). He also commonly uses oshidashi (push out) which is a pushing technique. His favored grip is the maemitsu grip.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 348-324-6/668 (91 basho)
* **Juryo:** 36-52-2/87 (6 basho)
* **Makushita:** 162-149-4/308 (45 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 86-68/154 (22 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 55-50/105 (15 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 9-5/14 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (March 2015)

## **Shikona History**

* Suzunoumi Ryuichi (2004.03 - 2006.05)
* Dewahayate Ryuichi (2006.07 - 2011.01)
* Dewahayate Ryuji (2011.05 - 2019.05)

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Dewahayate Ryuji - 2016 (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Dewahayate Ryuji - 2015 (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Dewahayate Ryuji - 2014 (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Dewahayate's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Dewahayate's early career in the unsalaried ranksDewahayate ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2014)Dewahayate after promotion to Juryo (c. 2014)Dewahayate defeats Sotairyu (c. 2014)Dewahayate wins his first Makushita Yusho (c. 2015)Dewahayate with stablemate future Ozeki Mitakeumi (c. 2015)Dewahayate defeats Wakanosato (c. 2015)Dewahayate battles Ura (c. 2016)Dewahayate after wrestling his final match (c. 2019)Dewahayate's retirement ceremony (c. 2019)
## **Sources**

* Dewahayate Ryuji Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Dewahayate Ryuji Rikishi Information