Wakatoryu Hidefumi

Wakatoryu Hidefumi - 若東龍 秀史 (born July 27, 1978) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Chikusei, Ibaraki. He made his debut in March 1984 and wrestled for Matsugane stable. He reached the juryo division in May 2000. His highest rank was juryo 3 and he retired in January 2006.

## **Early Life**

Nodera was born the second son of parents who ran a farm equipment repair service called "Nodera Agricultural Machinery Company" (野寺農機商会). He began practicing sumo from an early age and participated in national competitions in elementary and junior high school. However, he actually found more success in judo and won the Ibaraki Prefectural Tournament, but he still had aspirations to become a professional sumo wrestler. He was introduced to Matsugane stable by a former sumo wrestler who belonged in Futagoyama stable an he joined Matsugane after graduation from junior high school in January 2006.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Nodera steadily climbed the ranks of the lower divisions and in March 1995 he was promoted to sandanme. He changed his shikona to "Wakahoryu" (若豊龍) in the following tournament and was promoted to makushita in January 1997. However, in this tournament he broke his knee and withdrew from the tournament. He subsequently sat out of three straight tournaments and fell all the way back down to jonidan. Upon demotion back to jonidan he reverted back to his family name "Nodera" (野寺) as his shikona. He only managed to wrestle for three full tournaments before sitting out for consecutive tournaments in 1998 which resulted in a fall back down to jonidan. He won the jonidan yusho with a perfect 7-0 record in January 1999. In January 2000 he won the makushita yusho after defeating Kasuganishiki in a playoff and he was promoted to the rank of makushita 2 in March. He followed with a 4-3 record which secured him a promotion to juryo.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona to "Wakatoryu" (若東龍), but he produced a 7-8 record in his sekitori debut which resulted in a demotion back to makushita. He returned to juryo three tournaments and later and produced an 8-7, followed by a 9-6, which promoted him to the rank of juryo 3 in May 2001. In this tournament, he defeated makuuchi rikishi Tochinohana and Daizen. By the end of the tenth day it seemed like Wakatoryu was going to earn a spot in the top makuuchi division as his record was 7-3, but he went on to lose his last five matches to finish with a 7-8 record. He sat out of the following tournament due to a right knee injury and was demoted from the division in January 2002.

### **Later Career**

Wakatoryu remained mainly in makushita for the majority of his later career. In September 2003 he was demoted back down to sandanme, but he bounced back by winning the yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. He reverted his shikona back to his family name in May 2004.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After sitting out of two consecutive tournaments due to knee injuries, Nodera announced his retirement after the January 2006 tournament. In October 2006, he opened up a chankonabe restaurant called "Wakatoryu Kitchen" (若東龍Kitchen) in his hometown of Chikusei, Ibaraki.

## **Fighting Style**

Wakatoryu was a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or technique is oshidashi or a straightforward push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 260-186-107/443 (72 basho)
* **Juryo:** 40-41-24/79 (7 basho)
* **Makushita:** 102-88-41/189 (33 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 69-43-35/112 (21 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 44-12-7/56 (9 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 2000)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (September 2000)
* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (January 1999)

## **Shikona History**

* Nodera Hidefumi (1994.03 - 1995.03)
* Wakahoryu Hidefumi (1995.05 - 1997.09)
* Nodera Hidefumi (1997.11 - 2000.03)
* Wakatoryu Hidefumi (2000.05 - 2004.03)
* Nodera Hidefumi (2004.05 - 2006.01)

## **Gallery**

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

Wakatoryu Hidefumi - 2000 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakatoryu's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Wakatoryu after promotion to juryo (c. 2000)Wakatoryu during the juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2001)Wakatoryu after falling to the unsalaried ranksWakaoryu's restaurant, Wakatoryu KITCHEN
## **Sources**

* Wakatoryu Hidefumi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Wakatoryu Hidefumi Rikishi Information