Gonoyama Toki

Gonoyama Toki - 豪ノ山 登輝 (born April 7, 1998) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Neyagawa, Osaka. He made his debut in March 2021 and currently wrestles for Takekuma stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2023 and has 1 special prize. His highest rank as of 2023 is maegashira 3.

## **Early Life**

Nishikawa began sumo wrestling during his first year at Keimei Elementary School in Neyagawa, Osaka, and he participated in the Wanpaku Sumo Tournament and the All Japan Elementary School Sumo Championship from the fourth grade to the sixth grade. He went on to attend Neyagawa Shiritsu Daikyu Junior High School and Saitama Sakae High School before enrolling at the Faculty of Law in Chuo University. During his first year at Chuo University, Nishikawa made it to the top 32 in the National Student Championships. By his fourth year, he was captain of his university's sumo club and he also finished runner-up at the National Student Championships. After graduating from college, Nishikawa opted to turn pro and joined Sakaigawa stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in March 2021. Due to his amateur achievements, Nishikawa was given sandanme tsukedashi status which allowed him to make his professional debut at the bottom of sandanme. In his first tournament, Nishikawa was undefeated coming into his final match, however, he missed out on the yusho after losing to Fukushima by disqualification as he had pulled his topknot. Nevertheless, he followed with another strong 6-1 record and was promoted to makushita in July 2021.

In November 2021, Nishikawa withdrew from the tournament due to a neck injury and was demoted to the rank of makushita 35 in January 2022. In his return, Nishikawa defeated former komusubi Ryuden in his final match to claim the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. In February 2022, he transferred to the recently opened Takekuma stable which was established by former ozeki Goeido. He followed with two 4-3 records and was promoted to juryo in July 2022.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon his promotion to juryo, he was given the new shikona, or ring name, Gonoyama (豪ノ山) inspired by the first kanji from his master's own ring name. During his first tournament, he finished with an 8-7 record. During the March 2023 tournament, Gonoyama achieved 11 wins and inflicted his only defeat on Ichinojo, the juryo champion. In the following tournament, Gonoyama won the jūryo tournament championship with a score of 14–1. The championship was notably decided on the fifteenth day, when Gonoyama and Ochiai faced each other in a playoff. Gonoyama inflicted for the second time in the tournament a defeat on Ochiai, whom he had already beaten on Day 11, and subsequently claimed the second division title. This championship win was also the first time since 1949 that the second-division title was decided in a playoff between two wrestlers with 14 wins. In post-championship interviews, Gonoyama confided that throughout the tournament he had been preparing to come second. He also praised maegashira Oho for helping him train and prepare for the makuuchi division level.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Gonoyama was promoted to the top makuuchi division for the July 2023 tournament, listed at the rank of east maegashira 13. Upon his promotion, he said in a press conference that he wanted to win at least ten matches and win a special prize at the upcoming tournament. Gonoyama made a good start to the tournament and recorded five straight wins before being defeated by Ochiai (now renamed Hakuoho) on Day 6. Following this defeat he suffered three consecutive defeats but bounced back at the end of his tournament to achieve a positive record (kachi-koshi). Having also scored a ninth win against Takanosho, Gonoyama was listed as a potential recipient of the Fighting Spirit special prize, which was conditional on a tenth win. On the final day of the tournament, Gonoyama defeated Tamawashi and won the award.

Gonoyama finished the September 2023 tournament with nine wins. At the November 2023 tournament Gonoyama scored back-to-back upset wins by defeating two of the then-three ozeki competitors. On Day 6 he defeated Kirishima, and the next day he beat childhood friend and yokozuna promotion-seeker Takakeisho for the first time. On the subject of his recent victories, former yokozuna Wakanohana III commented in his daily column that Gonoyama had put on the perfect match and that he expected the young wrestler to reach the san'yaku ranks in 2024.

## **Fighting Style**

Gonoyama is a tsuki and oshi specialist, which means he relies on thrusting and pushing techniques to defeat his opponents rather than belt-wrestling. By far the most common of his winning techniques is oshidashi (push out) which accounts for 42% of his wins. His style was compared by his master Goeido to that of former ozeki Dejima Takeharu.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 123-66-2/188 (17 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 27-18/45 (3 basho)
* **Juryo:** 57-33/90 (6 basho)
* **Makushita:** 27-13-2/39 (6 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (May 2023)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 2022)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (1)

## **Shikona History**

* Nishikawa Toki (2021.03 - 2022.05)
* Gonoyama Toki (2022.07 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Gonoyama Toki - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Gonoyama Toki - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Gonoyama Toki - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Gonoyama Toki - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Gonoyama's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Nishikawa gets measured upon joining sumo (c. 2021)Nishikawa wins his first Makushita Yusho (c. 2022)Nishikawa ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2022)Nishikawa becomes Gonoyama upon promotion to Juryo (c. 2022)Gonoyama returns to his hometown (c. 2022)Gonoyama presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2022)Gonoyama defeats Chiyosakae (c. 2022)Gonoyama prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2022)Gonoyama defeats Ochiai to win the Juryo Yusho (c. 2023)Gonoyama wins his first Juryo Yusho (c. 2023)Gonoyama after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2023)Gonoyama defeats Kotoeko (c. 2023)Gonoyama (bottom right) with his first sansho prize (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Gonoyama Toki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Gonoyama Toki Rikishi Information