Daigaku Munemasa

Daigaku Munemasa - 大岳 宗正 (born April 14, 1965) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kusatsu, Shiga. He made his debut in March 1983 and wrestled for Tokitsukaze stable. He reached the juryo division in January 1991. His highest rank was juryo 2 and he retired in September 1993.

## **Early Life**

Hideki Yokoe was born the eldest son of an auto mechanic. He practiced judo in elementary school before switching to soccer in junior high school. During his third year of junior high school, he began to practice sumo wrestling and contributed to winning first place in the team championship. During his first year in high school he participated at the National Sports Festival of Japan and earned the eye of many sumo scouts. He eventually dropped out of high school during his second year and joined Tokitsukaze stable and made his professional debut in March 1983.

## **Career**

Yokoe had a strong start and produced two consecutive 6-1 records followed by a 5-2 record which earned him a promotion to sandanme by his fifth professional tournament in November 1983. He changed his shikona to "Daigaku" (大岳) in September 1985 and was promoted to makushita in July 1986. He was on the verge of promotion to juryo on two separate occasions but was unlucky in both instances. In March 1988 he produced a 4-3 record at the rank f makushita 2 but was promoted to makushita 1 and in March 1990 he produced a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 1 west but was instead promoted to the rank of makushita 1 east (a very rare but possible occurrence). Nevertheless, in November 1990 he posted a 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 2 which guaranteed him a promotion to juryo in January 1991.

Daigaku was immediately able to establish himself as a sekitori. In November 1991, Daigaku produced a 10-5 record and qualified for a four-man playoff for the juryo yusho. There, he defeated Tatsuhikari in the first round and Tsunenoyama in the second round which won him the championship. However, he never managed to reach makuuchi and rose as high as juryo 2 in March 1992.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

In July 1992, Daigaku withdrew on the 6th day due to a left thigh muscle contusion. He continued to sit out of the following tournament and eventually fell down to makushita in January 1993. He never managed to return to juryo and subsequently announced his retirement after the September 1993 tournament.

He currently runs a chankonabe restaurant called "Chanko Daigaku" (ちゃんこ大岳) in his hometown of Kusatsu, Shiga.

## **Personal Life**

in 1994, Daigaku married former Japanese television personality Harumi Fukano where he meat in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, but they divorced after three years together.

Daigaku is the only sekitori to win a juryo yusho without ever reaching makuuchi in the Heisei period.

## **Fighting Style**

Daigaku was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 268-224-45/491 (64 basho)
* **Juryo:** 77-79-24/155 (12 basho)
* **Makushita:** 115-88-14/203 (31 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 59-53-7/112 (17 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 11-3/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (November 1991)

## **Shikona History**

* Yokoe Hideki (1983.03 - 1985.07)
* Daigaku Munemasa (1985.09 - 1993.09)

## **Gallery**

Daigaku with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1992)Digaku throws salt into the ring as he prepares for his matchDaigaku's tegata
## **Sources**

* Daigaku Munemasa Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Daigaku Munemasa Rikishi Information