Masatsukasa Kōshin
Masatsukasa Kōshin (born 7 June 1984 as Masahito Ono) is a former sumo wrestler from Aomori Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was "maegashira" 8. He was forced to retire in April 2011 after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association found him guilty of match-fixing. Career. Born in Fukaura, Nishitsugaru (also the home town of Kaiho, Aminishiki and Asofuji), he made his professional debut in January 2003 joining Irumagawa stable. In his first tournament on the "banzuke" ranking sheets in March 2003 he took the "yusho" or tournament championship with a perfect 7-0 record. Six consecutive  kachi-koshi or winning scores saw him reach the third highest "makushita" division in March 2004 and he became a "sekitori" on his promotion to the "jūryō" division in September 2005. After three poor performances he was demoted back to "makushita" in March 2006 but made an immediate return to the second division, and although he was never able to win more than nine bouts out of fifteen in any one tournament, a series of steady scores took him up to "Jūryō" 3. A 9-6 score in May 2008, winning his last four matches, was enough to earn him  promotion to the top "makuuchi" division for the July 2008 "basho." He scored an impressive ten wins in his top division debut, which resulted in promotion to his highest rank of "maegashira" 8, but he had three "make-koshi" or losing scores in the next three tournaments, and fell back to the "jūryō" division in March 2009. In September he returned to the top division at the very lowest rank of "maegashira" 16. He made an excellent start, winning his first five bouts, but eight losses in the next ten days saw him narrowly fail to maintain his "makuuchi" position . In July 2010 he secured the "jūryō" championship by the 13th day, and was promoted back to the top division at "maegashira" 8. However, he was unable to take part in the September tournament due to an injury to his left ankle. Back in "jūryō" for the November tournament, he secured his "kachi-koshi" by winning his last two bouts to finish on 8-7. Retirement from sumo. Masatsukasa was one of 23 wrestlers found guilty of fixing the result of bouts after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association, and he was ordered to retire in April 2011. Fighting  style. Masatsukasa favoured pushing and thrusting techniques, with his most common winning "kimarite" being "oshi-dashi", or push-out. Family. Upon becoming a "sekitori" in August 2005 he revealed that he had been married since May 2003. His wife and his two-year-old son were living with his parents back in Aomori. He did not feel he could say anything publicly before reaching a salaried rank. He first adopted the "shikona" or fighting name of Masatsukasa in July 2003. In September 2008 he changed the second part of his "shikona" from Tadashi to Koshin, the name of his son . Career record.