#JapanWrestling

Otoguro set to start on tender foot down last path to Paris

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (December 18) -- The last time the wrestling world saw Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO, he was leaving Belgrade with no medal from the World Championships and, more importantly, without a qualifying spot for Japan at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

This week, Otoguro will start on the lone path to Paris remaining for him, hoping the foot injury that plagued him throughout the year has recovered enough to prevail at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships, to be held December 21-24 in Tokyo.

Otoguro, the Tokyo gold medalist at freestyle 65kg, will need to win his second straight title and fourth overall to earn a ticket to the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in Bishkek in April, and, if unsuccessful there, the World Olympic qualifier in May in Istanbul.

"He has had less time to recover from the injury at the World Championships than he did leading up to it," said national freestyle coach Shozo MAEDA, who also works privately with Otoguro. "But the current state of his foot is much better than at the World Championships."

The other weight class in the spotlight will be women's 68kg, where a power-packed lineup will look to nudge Ami ISHII out of the Olympic spot that she secured for Japan by winning the fifth-place playoff in Belgrade.

Japan clinched 10 berths in Paris in Belgrade -- two each in the two men's styles and all six in women's wrestling -- but the entries in the nine others have been decided as those wrestlers won medals in Belgrade to fulfill the Japan federation criteria that allows them to automatically fill the spot themselves.

The nine with tickets to Paris are: Rei HIGUCHI (57kg) and Daichi TAKATANI (74kg) in freestyle; Kenichiro FUMITA (60kg) and Nao KUSAKA (77kg) in Greco; and Yui SUSAKI (50kg), Akari FUJINAMI (53kg), Tsugumi SAKURAI (57kg), Sakura MOTOKI (62kg) and Yuka KAGAMI (76kg) in women's wrestling.

None are entered in the Emperor's Cup, but each will have the first option of deciding whether to compete at the Asian Championships, to be held the week before the Asian Olympic qualifier in Bishkek.

Otoguro suffered the right foot injury at a national team camp in early January, which caused him to pull out of this year's Asian Championships and hampered him at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in June, which he still won to make the team to Belgrade.

The plan was to win a medal there and secure his place in Paris, but the injury worsened as he was dealt a second-round loss by fall by eventual champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), whom Otoguro had beaten at the Tokyo Olympics. Otoguro defaulted in the repechage, giving up his chance for a medal or a Paris berth.

Maeda said that Otoguro started full-fledged practice in November and all has been going well so far. "Of course, I can't say he's 100 percent, but he's close to it," he said. "He's got in his mind what the limits of his movement are, and he's adjusted his wrestling style a little. By covering for that, I don't think the foot is going to be a problem."

With a Paris ticket on the line, there is no shortage of wrestlers ready to take on the top-seeded Otoguro, some going up or down as many as two weight classes. There are 27 entries at 65kg, meaning Otoguro's foot will have to hold up for four matches.

Maeda said he's psychologically ready for the challenge.

"At the World Championships, he had the injury and he felt he did not train enough," Maeda said. "This time, he created a good training environment. Although he's not the type who usually leaves his base, he went back to his alma mater Yamanashi Gakuin University  and other places so he could have strong practice partners and do more sparring. Because of that, his mental state is good."

Leading the attempt to upend Otoguro will be Ryoma ANRAKU, the 2022 world U23 bronze medalist who won a bronze at the Asian Championships in Otoguro's absence. Anraku lost to Otoguro in the final at both last year's Emperor's Cup and this year's Meiji Cup, and will be determined to finally turn the tables.

Kaiki YAMAGUCHI, the Asian Games bronze medalist, will be looking to regain the Emperor's Cup title that he won back-to-back in 2020-2021 -- also in Otoguro's absence. He lost a close 3-2 decision to Otoguro at the Meiji Cup, although the Olympic champ was definitely not at his best.

Among the more intriguing entries are Toshihiro HASEGAWA and Yuto MIWA, who would be 17 kilograms apart if they were wrestling in their usual weight classes.

Hasegawa, this year's Asian Games gold winner at 57kg, has experience at a heavier weight as a 2021 world bronze medalist at 61kg, but this will be his first-ever tournament at 65kg. Miwa will be coming from the other direction -- he was the runner-up to Takatani at 74kg at the Meiji Cup, and then won a playoff to make the Japanese team to Belgrade at 79kg. The 25-year-old last wrestled under 70kg  as a high schooler in 2015.

Also worth watching is 18-year-old Rin SAKAMOTO, who became just the second high schooler in history to win a Meiji Cup freestyle title when he triumphed at 61kg.

68kg features who's who of top wrestlers

As the lone women's spot in Paris still up for grabs, the 68kg division may not have the quantity of entries as freestyle 65kg, but it certainly does not lack the quality. In fact, it may just be the greatest aggregation of talent in one weight class in tournament history.

Of the 12 entries, half have won a senior world gold or silver medal over the past three years. Three others are past national champions. Another won a world U20 gold medal this year.

Can Ishii claim the ticket to Paris that she brought back to Japan? A title will make it hers; a loss and the 2022 world silver medalist will then face the eventual champion in a playoff at a date to be determined.

The main rivals looking to get through the door to Paris that Ishii reopened will be Miwa MORIKAWA, Nonoka OZAKI and Yukako KAWAI, with Masako FURUICHI and Rin MIYAJI regarded as outside threats.

Morikawa, the 2022 world 65kg champion who lost to Ishii at last year's Emperor's Cup, beat her in the semifinals en route to gold at the Meiji Cup to set up a playoff between the two for the world team spot. Ishii pulled off a close 2-1 victory to earn the trip to Belgrade.

Morikawa had a front-row seat to Ishii's failure that suddenly rekindled her Olympic dream as she competed at 72kg in Belgrade, where she took home a bronze medal.

Also in Belgrade was Ozaki, who had lost out at 62kg to Motoki, but like Morikawa, made the team in a non-Olympic weight. She moved up to 65kg and took the gold. She has the skill and desire, but it will be interesting to see how she handles the additional weight at 68kg.

While past performance does not ensure future success, Ozaki may get a boost in confidence knowing that she is 3-0 in career meetings with Ishii, her most recent win coming in 2020, and 2-0 against Kawai.

Kawai will also be punching above her weight, as she won the gold medal at 62kg at the Tokyo Olympics. She also failed to displace Motoki in the race to Belgrade and then gave 68kg a shot, but came up short when she lost in the Meiji Cup final to Morikawa.

Furuichi, the oldest in the group at 27, is also a member of the world "grand slam" club, having added the senior 72kg title in 2021. She also has a pair of world bronzes from 2019 and 2022.

Miyaji drew global attention at the 2021 World Championships in Oslo, where she stunned Olympic champion Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) in the 68kg semifinals before suffering a serious knee injury in the final and having to settle for the silver. The collegian has struggled to regain her form after a long rehab, but cannot be counted out.

While there are no other Olympic places at stake, two other women's weight classes are worth noting.

Kawai's older sister Risako KINJO, while denied a chance at a third Olympic gold, will be defending her 59kg title as she continues her wrestling career while being the mother of a toddler.

At 50kg, a potential final between 2021 world champion Remina YOSHIMOTO and current world U23 champion Umi ITO could be regarded as a de facto world silver-medal match. Since 2020, neither has lost to anyone, either in Japan or abroad, other than the unbeatable Susaki. They have met each other four times in that span, with Yoshimoto, two years older at 23, winning all four.

Takatani chases legends, 4th Olympics

In other men's weight classes, veteran Sohsuke TAKATANI will be looking to tie a pair of legends for most career national titles -- and keep alive his bid to appear at a fourth Olympics -- when he takes the mat at freestyle 86kg.

The 34-year-old Takatani, the older brother of the Paris-bound Daichi at 74kg, has won 12 consecutive golds at the Emperor's Cup over four weight classes, the last three at 92kg. A victory would tie him with Saori YOSHIDA and Kaori ICHO for third on the all-time list for overall titles. In terms of consecutive titles, a 13th in a row would break a tie for second with Kyoko HAMAGUCHI.

But going down a weight class in no way makes things easier. The biggest obstacle in Takatani's path to Paris is defending champion Hayato ISHIGURO, who beat him 3-0 in the final of the Meiji Cup in June. That earned Ishiguro, an Asian bronze medalist, a ticket to Belgrade, where he made the fourth round and placed 13th.

Winning an Olympic medal remains an obsession for Takatani, a world silver medalist in 2014 at 74kg. His highest finish at an Olympics was a seventh place at the 2016 Rio Games.

Among the others who could pose problems for those two is Tatsuya SHIRAI, who became Japan's heaviest male world champion on any level when he won the U23 gold at 86kg in 2022. Ironically, he broke the record set by Ishiguro, who captured the world U20 gold at 79kg in 2018.

Also worth watching are collegians Fumiya IGARASHI, who established his credentials this year by taking a silver medal at the World U20 Championships, and Yudai TAKAHASHI, who made the first of his two appearances at a senior World Championships as a high schooler in 2019 and has always seemed on the brink of a breakout performance.

There is an added incentive at 86kg. The odds of the winner earning one of the two Paris tickets available at the Asian Olympic qualifier are quite high, as three Asian nations, including Iran, secured berths in Belgrade.

Interestingly, Takatani is also entered at Greco 87kg. He qualified by winning the title at the National Non-Student Open in October in the first-ever foray into Greco of his career.

At freestyle 97kg, rising star Arash YOSHIDA and older brother Keiwan could take the term sibling rivalry to a new level as they could face each other in an attempt to dethrone defending champion Takashi ISHIGURO, Hayato's older brother.

The 19-year-old Arash, whose father is Iranian and runs the kids wrestling club where he got his start in the sport, turned heads when he won the gold medal at 92kg at the Asian Championships last April -- beating an Iranian in the first round in his first-ever international match -- then finished fifth at the worlds in Belgrade.

With Japan still not qualified at 86kg or 97kg for Paris, many wondered which way Yoshida would go. In the end, he decided to go up in weight, and prepared by winning the national collegiate title at 97kg last month.

Keiwan, five years his senior, was also a collegiate star, but never had the success on the global level that his younger brother has already enjoyed. He made the final of the Emperor's Cup once, losing in 2021 to Ishiguro, and qualified this year by winning the second-tier National Games tournament in September.

The most enticing Greco division on tap will be 67kg, which looks to come down to another clash between world team member Kyotaro SOGABE and Asian Games gold medalist Katsuaki ENDO, who are both part of the training group at Nippon Sports Science University.

Endo, 26, has a 5-3 lead in head-to-head meetings dating back to 2019, but the 22-year-old Sogabe has won two of the last three, including a playoff in June to make the squad to Belgrade. There, Sogabe won over fans by taking Olympic champion Mohammad Reza GERAEI (IRI) to the limit before suffering a heartbreaking 11-10 loss in the second round.

Sogabe heads into the tournament as the defending champion, while Endo will be looking to regain the crown he first captured in 2018 and won again in 2021.

The wild card in the weight class could be Taishi NARIKUNI, the maverick who won the world gold in freestyle 70kg in 2022 before deciding to try to repeat the feat in Greco. An injury forced him to withdraw from that year's Emperor's Cup, and his bid to make it to Belgrade ended when he lost badly to Endo in the semifinals at the Meiji Cup.

Also worth watching will be Kensuke SHIMIZU, a 2021 world bronze medalist at 63kg who has yet to find success at the Olympic weight.

The tournament is returning to Tokyo's Yoyogi No. 2 Gym, which was originally built for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and then closed for several years as the area was renovated for the 2021 Games. The Olympic weight classes will follow the same two-day format as at the World Championships, with action through the semifinals on the first day and the repechage round and finals on the second. Non-Olympic weight classes will start and finish on the same day.

Schedule

Thursday, December 21

Through semifinals: FS 74kg, FS 125kg; GR 87kg, GR 97kg, GR 130kg; WW 53kg, WW 62kg, WW 76kg

Through finals: FS 61kg; GR 55kg, GR 72kg; WW 72kg

Friday, December 22

Through semifinals: FS 57kg, FS 86kg; GR 60kg, GR 77kg

Through finals: FS 92kg; GR 63kg; WW 55kg, WW 65kg

Finals: FS 74kg, FS 125kg; GR 87kg, GR 97kg, GR 130kg, WW 53kg, WW 62kg, WW 76kg

Saturday, December 23

Through semifinals: FS 65kg, FS 97kg; GR 67kg; WW 50kg, WW 57kg, WW 68kg

Through finals: FS 70kg, FS 79kg

Finals: FS 57kg, FS 86kg; GR 60kg, GR 77kg

Sunday, December 24

Through finals: GR 82kg; WW 59kg

Finals: FS 65kg, FS 97kg; GR 67kg; WW 50kg, WW 57kg, WW 68kg

#JapanWrestling

Ishii wins showdown with Morikawa for 68kg gold; Kinjo claims 59kg crown

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (December 23) -- Already a world silver medalist, Ami ISHII picked up her first national title at women's 68kg with a dramatic victory over world 65kg champion Miwa MORIKAWA, while two-time Olympic champion Risako KINJO was content with a title in a non-Olympic weight as she transitions back to the mat from childbirth.

Ishii denied Morikawa in her bid to move up to the Olympic weight class, scoring all of her points in the second period for a 5-2 victory in the final at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships on Friday in Tokyo.

Kinjo, who plans to make a run for her third Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Games at 57kg, forged out a 4-1 victory over former world U23 champion Yui SAKANO in the 59kg final in the tournament that is serving as the first domestic qualifier for next year's World Championships in Belgrade.

Meanwhile, Rei HIGUCHI and Sae NANJO both avenged losses to old nemeses in reaching the final of their respective weight classes, while Tokyo Olympic champion Yui SUSAKI, well, just did what Yui Susaki always does.

Ami ISHII (JPN)Ami ISHII, right, and Miwa MORIKAWA square off in the women's 68kg final. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation/Takeo Yabuki)

The Ishii-Morikawa clash came about due to the fact that the tournament has implications on qualifying for the Paris Olympics. Combined with the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in June, it helps determine the team to Belgrade, where a medal by a Japanese wrestler in an Olympic weight will mean an automatic place in Paris.

To better prepare the wrestlers for the worlds and Olympics, the format of the four-day tournament has been tweaked so that the Olympic weights are run over two days, while the non-Olympic classes are started and finished in one day.

Ishii moved a step closer to Paris by emerging victorious in a field that included four current or past world medalists and two former U20 world champions.

"When the buzzer sounded, I was really happy," said Ishii, who also picked up the world U20 gold this year. "But when I look at it calmly, this match was the first in the qualifying process, it didn't decide the Olympics. It's just a point along the way."

Morikawa, who missed out on the Tokyo Olympics when she lost a playoff for the 68kg spot to Sara DOSHO, took the lead in the final with a spin-behind takedown off an Ishii shot in the first period. In the second period, Ishii tied it with a single-leg takedown.

As Morikawa tried to press for a stepout, her strength was not enough against the rock-solid Ishii, who reversed the roles and forced Morikawa out. Ishii stuffed a last-ditch lateral drop attempt in the final seconds for her final points.

"The first two points I gave up, I started the attack and she scored off my mistake," Ishii said. "To tie the match, I went with my regular single. At 2-2, there was still a lot of time left, but I didn't want to just keep defending and I kept on the attack."

It was a major blow for Morikawa, who won the 68kg title in 2019 before winning consecutive crowns at 65kg in 2020 and 2021.

"At 65kg, I often press ahead to get stepout points," Morikawa said. "But she held me off and I couldn't get her out. I have to get [my strength] to the level of this weight class."

Risako KINJO (JPN)Risako KINJO clamps down on Yui SAKANO in the women's 59kg final. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation/Takeo Yabuki)

For the 28-year-old Kinjo, who won her Olympic golds and three world titles under her maiden name of KAWAI, the road ahead goes the opposite direction, as she will be returning to 57kg for the Meiji Cup.

Kinjo got married soon after the Tokyo Olympics -- to a fellow wrestler, of course -- and gave birth to her first child, a girl, in May. She returned to competition in October at the second-tier All-Japan Women's Open, where she won the 59kg title.

While her mother and others help with the childcare, Kinjo finds she must budget her time, which means quality over quantity when it comes to practice. But it makes her more appreciative of being able to still compete in the sport she loves.

"On days that I practice, putting on the shoes and taking the mat for a hard workout is tough, but just that alone is pleasureable and I can feel that wrestling is still fun," she said.

In contrast to her credentials, Kinjo did not have an easy time on Friday. In her opening match in the quarterfinals against collegian Natsuki YAMAGUCHI, she received an activity point just before giving up a takedown, then held on for a 3-2 victory.

"I'm usually tight in the first match," Kinjo said. "Even if it's only one point, I have more experience than the others, so it may seem like a little, but I think it's big. After the first match, I make changes that I need to make."

The most surprising aspect of the victory was the fact that Kinjo was not aware it had been five years since she won her last Emperor's Cup title. Since then, she came out on the short end of a classic battle with the legendary Kaori ICHO in 2018, then skipped the tournament the next three years.

Ayano MORO (JPN)High schooler Ayano MORO gets emotional after winning the women's 76kg title in her first senior competition. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation/Takeo Yabuki)

Meanwhile, there was no outburst of joy like that of one of the youngest participants in the tournament, as world U20 champion Ayano MORO's victory in the women's 76kg final left the high schooler wailing in tears on the medal podium.

Moro, making her debut in a senior level tournament, scored a takedown with 20 seconds left to take a three-point lead, then held on for a 4-3 victory over Nodoka YAMAMOTO, who opened some eyes by winning both of her matches at the recent World Cup.

The 17-year-old Moro, a junior at Tokyo's Abe Gakuin High School, has not lost since November 2017, a span that includes a victory at the U20 World Championships in August this year in Sofia, Bulgaria, as she looks to fill the opening at the heaviest weight class once dominated by world medalists Kyoko HAMAGUCHI and Hiroe MINAGAWA.

In other action, Daichi TAKATANI combined with older brother Sohsuke for a sibling double for the second year in a row and third time overall when he defeated Kirin KINOSHITA 5-2 in the freestyle 74kg final.

Takatani scored with a front headlock roll late in the first period, then added a second-period takedown to defeat Kinoshita for his third career title. He still has a way to catch up to Sohsuke, who notched his 12th straight title on Thursday with a victory at 92kg.

Yuki TANAKA (JPN)Yuki TANAKA failed to get another shot at Yui SUSAKI after losing in the women's 50kg quarterfinals. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation/Takeo Yabuki)

Susaki cruises into final

Susaki, coming off her historic win at the world U23 two months ago, advanced to the women's 50kg final with an 11-0 technical fall over Nanami IRIE, the 2019 world silver medalist at 55kg.

The current world champion set up a clash for the gold with Remina YOSHIMOTO, the 2021 world champion in Susaki's absence and has lost all four previous encounters between the two, including the final of this year's Meiji Cup.

The 23-year-old Susaki moved into another stratosphere with her victory at the world U23 in Pontevedra, Spain, as it made her the first wrestler in history to complete the Grand Slam of Olympic gold and all four age-group titles. It also came a month after she captured her third senior world gold.

While Susaki disposed of one Irie sister in gaining a chance for her third career Emperor's Cup title and first since 2019, she was relieved of the burden of facing another one with whom she is much more familiar.

Yuki TANAKA, who remains the only wrestler on the planet to have beaten Susaki from her junior high school days, was ousted in her quarterfinal match by Hanano SAKURAI, the younger sister of 57kg world champion Tsugumi SAKURAI, who used a nifty barrel roll twice to score a 7-0 victory.

Tanaka, the oldest of the three Irie wrestling sisters, had stepped away from the sport when she failed to get to the Tokyo Olympics. Newly married, she only returned to competition in July this year.

"The level [of opponents] has gotten higher, and I haven't reached that yet," said Tanaka, who defeated Susaki three times in her career but eventually lost out to her for a place at the Tokyo Olympics. "I didn't wrestle for two years. Of course, I wanted to win the title, but I had a stronger feeling of just taking each and every match one at a time."

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN)Rei HIGUCHI, left, avenges a loss to Yuki TAKAHASHI in the playoff for the Tokyo Olympics to make the freestyle 57kg final. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation/Takeo Yabuki)

Higuchi, who won the world gold at 61kg this year, made a successful start in his drop back down to 57kg, the weight class in which he won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

On Friday, Higuchi advanced to the final with an 11-0 technical fall over former world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI, avenging a devastating loss to the Yamanshi Gakuin University coach in a playoff for a spot at the Tokyo Olympics.

Higuchi used an effective single-leg attack to score three takedowns, two of which he punctuated with gut wrenches with the last one ending the match at 3:43.

For Higuchi, the biggest problem at 57kg has been weight control, as he famously failed to make weight at the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament to open the door back up for Takahashi to gain the ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.

Higuchi refused to speak to the press after his win, saying he needed to focus on doing what he needs to do to make weight on Saturday.

Sae NANJO (JPN)Sae NANJO celebrates after holding on to beat Tsugumi SAKURAI in the women's 57kg semifinals. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation/Takeo Yabuki)

Nanjo made it third-time-lucky in her encounters with Tsugumi Sakurai, making the women's 57kg final by finally protecting a lead after twice seeing the Ikuei University star score a last-second victory over the past year.

Nanjo jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period with a takedown, penalty point and lace lock, then held on for a 5-4 win after Sakurai scored two takedowns in the second but couldn't manage to turn her over.

"In the first period, I allowed her to easily get to my legs and after that, to turn me on the ground, so it put me in a tough five-point deficit," Sakurai said.

"My style is to fight the full six minutes and put it on the line in the second period. But I had a tough match in the quarterfinals, so I started getting tired. My opponent stayed tough and I couldn't pull out the win."

In the final at last year's Emperor's Cup, Sakurai seized the title with a four-point takedown in the final seconds for a 5-2 victory over Nanjo. Then, at this year's Meiji Cup it was deja vu all over again as Sakurai scored a buzzer-beating takedown for a 5-3 win.

In going for her fifth career title and first since 2020, Nanjo will next face Sara NATAMI, who pulled off a late victory by fall over Umi IMAI in the other semifinal, a battle of reigning Asian champions.

Natami was trailing 2-1 in the last minute when she used a front headlock roll to put Imai on her back and secured the fall at 5:31. Natami won the 59kg title at this year's Asian Championships, while Imai took home the 55kg gold.

Shohei YABIKU (JPN)Olympic bronze medalist Shohei YABIKU, right, and Nao KUSAKA know each other well as training partners. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation/Takeo Yabuki)

Another big name to fall was Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Shohei YABIKU, who was ousted in the Greco 77kg quarterfinals by collegiate champion Nao KUSAKU, with whom he trains at his alma mater Nippon Sports Science University.

Kusaku, a world U23 bronze medalist this year, led on criteria with the second of two passivity points handed out, then held on when placed on the bottom in par terre in the second period for a 1-1 victory.

Yabiku has been battling recent knee and other injuries since placing second at the Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Cup in Poland in July and made an early exit at the World Championships in Belgrade.

"It can't be said I'm in the best condition, but as long as I'm taking the mat, I'm thinking of winning, so I don't want that to be an excuse," Yabiku said.

Yabiku had two chances on top in par terre, but he was unable to execute the spectacular throws that he rode to an eye-opening run to the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

"What I mostly rely on was stopped," Yabiku said. "We practice together every day, so he knows me very well. The big reason for the loss was my ground attack. I'm confident I can defend on the ground, but the offense has become a source of anxiety. Bad things come out in me."

Meanwhile, Taishi NARIKUNI's bold quest to become the first wrestler in 49 years to pull off a freestyle-Greco double at the All-Japan never got started, as the world freestyle 70kg champion withdrew due to a broken rib suffered in practice.

Narikuni, who was entered at both freestyle 70kg and Greco 67kg, suffered the injury about a month ago, but only had it diagnosed last week after he continued to feel pain, according to a Facebook post by Narikuni's mother, a former two-time world champion.

Another less-heralded wrestler who was attempting the same feat, collegian Akito MUKAIDA, also withdrew due to injury. Mukaida is the younger brother of Olympic champion Mayu SHIDOCHI.

Results

Freestyle

57kg (11 entries)
Semifinal - Rikuto ARAI df. Ryuto SAKAKI, 5-4
Semifinal - Rei HIGUCHI df. Yuki TAKAHASHI by TF, 10-0, 3:43

74kg (14 entries)
Gold - Daichi TAKATANI df. Kirin KINOSHITA, 5-2

Bronze - Kojiro SHIGA df. Jintaro MOTOYAMA by TF, 10-0, 1:28
Bronze -Kota TAKAHASHI df. Ryutaro TOGIYA by TF, 10-0, 1:53

86kg (14 entries)
Semifinal - Hayato ISHIGURO df. Taisei MATSUYUKI, 4-3
Semifinal - Yudai TAKAHASHI df. Fumiya IGARASHI, 5-1

97kg (10 entries)
Gold - Takashi ISHIGURO df. Hibiki ITO by TF, 13-1, 5:51

Bronze - Shohei YAMAZAKI df. Toyoki HAMADA, 3-1
Bronze - Hiroto NINOMIYA df. Keiwan YOSHIDA by Def.

125kg (10 entries)
Gold - Daiki YAMAMOTO df. Ryusei FUJITA by TF, 12-0, 1:31

Bronze - Nozomi OISHI df. Takuya HIGUCHI by Def.
Bronze - Yuji FUKUI df. Kai SHUTTO, 3-0

Greco-Roman

63kg (16 entries)
Gold - Machiezo MARUYAMA df. Ryuto IKEDA, 6-1

Bronze - Kenshin MATSUMOTO df. Ryotaro FUJINAMI by Def.
Bronze - Yamato HAGIWARA df. Komei SAWADA, 7-1

Semifinal - Ryuto IKEDA df. Ryotaro FUJINAMI by TF, 8-0, 1:51
Semifinal - Machiezo MARUYAMA df. Komei SAWADA, 5-3

67kg (13 entries)
Semifinal - Katsuaki ENDO df. Haruto YABE, 5-5
Semifinal - Kyotaro SOGABE df. Shigeki TSUTSUMI by TF, 9-0, 2:01

77kg (13 entries)
Semifinal - Nao KUSAKA df. Tatsuya FUJII, 5-1
Semifinal - Kodai SAKURABA df. Minto MAEDA, 8-6

87kg (10 entries)
Gold - Masato SUMI df. So SAKABE, 5-1

Bronze - Yuto MATSUZAKI df. Daisei ISOE by TF, 9-0, 1:55
Bronze - Yoji KAWAMURA df. Kaito MIYAMOTO by Def.

97kg (11 entries)
Gold - Yuta NARA df. Masayuki AMANO, 3-0

Bronze - Yuri NAKAZATO df. Kairi YOSHIMURA by TF, 10-0, 4:09
Bronze - Riku NAKAHARA df. Kyo KITAWAKI by TF, 8-0, 4:07

130kg (10 entries)
Gold - Sota OKUMURA df. Shion OBATA, 3-3

Bronze - Daigo NISHI df. Koei YAMADA, 1-1
Bronze - Ryuta KONO df. Naoto YAMAGUCHI, 3-1

Women

50kg (16 entries)
Semifinal - Yui SUSAKI df. Nanami IRIE by TF, 11-0, 2:47
Semifinal - Remina YOSHIMOTO df. Hanano SAKURAI by Fall, 3:57 (10-0)

57kg (10 entries)
Semifinal - Sae NANJO df. Tsugumi SAKURAI, 5-4
Semifinal - Sara NATAMI df. Umi IMAI by Fall, 5:31 (3-2)

59kg (15 entries)
Gold - Risako KINJO df. Yui SAKANO, 4-1

Bronze - Akie HANAI df. Natsuki YAMAGUCHI, 6-5
Bronze - Miyu NAKANISHI df. Nana IKEHATA by Fall, 3:54 (2-1)

Semifinal - Risako KINJO df. Akie HANAI, 5-0
Semifinal - Yui SAKANO df. Miyu NAKANISHI by TF, 11-0, 5:51

68kg (9 entries)
Gold - Ami ISHII df. Miwa MORIKAWA, 5-2

Bronze - Rin MIYAJI df. Naruha MATSUYUKI by TF, 10-0, 3:27
Bronze - Miyu IMAI df. Yui ISAKI by TF, 10-0, 1:10

72kg (8 entries)
Gold - Sumire NIIKURA df. Kanon KOBAYASHI, 7-5

Bronze - Yawara SHIOSAWA df. Mei SHINDO, 3-0
Bronze - Misaki WACHI df. Nana SAKAMOTO by TF, 10-0, 2:45

Semifinal - Sumire NIIKURA df. Mei SHINDO, 4-0
Semifinal - Kanon KOBAYASHI df. Misaki WACHI, 6-3

76kg (7 entries)
Gold - Ayano MORO df. Nodoka YAMAMOTO, 4-3

Bronze - Mizuki NAGASHIMA df. Nanaha TAKASU, 4-0