Hokutoki Yuki

Hokutoki Yuki - 北勝輝 勇気 (born June 2, 1993) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Matsubara, Osaka. He made his debut in March 2016 and wrestled for Hakkaku stable. His highest rank was makushita 14 and he retired in January 2022.

## **Early Life**

Ikegawa initially started out as a swimmer, but during his third year at Matsubarahigashi Elementary School, he was encouraged to try out sumo by his parents. For a while he continued to practice sumo and swimming, but during his second year at Matsubara Shiritsu Matsubara Dairoku Junior High School, he quit swimming to solely focus on sumo. He started to compete at national tournaments during his third year of junior high school. After graduating junior high school, he attended Kindai University Senior High School and he achieved top 8 at the High School Towada Sumo Tournament.

After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Kinki University's Department of Business Administration where he majored in economics. He was classmates with the future Asanoyama and Asagyokusei as well. He won the West Japan Sumo Championships twice in a row during his first and second year. He also achieved top 16 at the All Japan Sumo Championship during his third and fourth year. Despite not earning makushita or sandanme tsukedashi status, Ikegawa still wanted to go professional. He had been in contact with Hakkaku stable since high school and developed a close relationship with Hokutofuji. After graduating university, he joined Hakkaku stable.

## **Career**

Ikegawa made his professional debut in March 2016 alongside university teammate Asanoyama. He won the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 7-0 record in his first professional tournament. In the following July 2016 tournament, Ikegawa finished with another perfect 7-0 record, but missed out on the jonidan yusho after losing to Kizaki in the playoff. He reached makushita in November 2016 after only one tournament in the previous lower divisions. However, he sat out of his first makushita tournament due to an injury to his Achilles tendon. He returned to makushita in March 2017, but was unable to reach the top of makushita. Upon promotion to a career-best makushita 14 rank in March 2019, he was given the shikona "Hokutoyo" (北勝陽). However, after an uneventful spell in makushita, he was given the new shikona "Hokutoki" (北勝輝) in September 2020. He eventually fell back down to sandanme in November 2021 and retired after the following January 2022 tournament.

## **Fighting Style**

Hokutoki was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. His most common kimarite was yorikiri (force out) followed by kotenage (arm-lock throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 122-101-15/222 (35 basho)
* **Makushita:** 92-89-15/180 (28 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 16-12/28 (4 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (May 2016)

## **Shikona History**

* Ikegawa Yuki (2016.03 - 2019.01)
* Hokutoyo Yuki (2019.03 - 2020.07)
* Hokutoki Yuki (2020.09 - 2022.01)

## **Gallery**

Hokutoki gets recruited into Hakkaku stable (c. 2015)Hokutoki gets measured upon joining sumo (c. 2016)Hokutoki joins alongside future Ozeki Asanoyama (c. 2016)Hokutoki wins the Jonokuchi Yusho (c. 2016)Hokutoki defeats Yoshii (c. 2021)Hokutoki's retirement ceremony (c. 2022)
## **Sources**

* Hokutoki Yuki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hokutoki Yuki Rikishi Information