After the Nagoya basho, I reviewed the performance of the wrestlers who debuted at Ms60 under the Makushita tsukedashi system after it was changed at the end of 2023. Let’s take a brief look at how our protagonists fared at Aki.
Winning records
After the blazing start to his career, M6w Kusano hit a bit of a wall in upper Makuuchi but won his final bout to finish 8-7, posting his 10th winning record in 10 basho. He will be rewarded with yet another career-high rank, at which he should face a full slate of sanyaku opponents. J4w Mita got off to a fast 7-0 start and looked like he could improve on his 11-4 July yusho and easily earn promotion, but he went 2-6 the rest of the way and finished 9-6, which will bump him up but won’t be enough to make Makuuchi. Ms5w Goshima (just renamed Fujiryoga) took full advantage of his rank just inside the promotion zone, going 6-1 to earn sekitori promotion after only four basho; his only loss was in a hard-fought belt bout with former maegashira Kitanowaka. Ms22e Hanaoka, who debuted in May, went 4-3 to post his third-straight kachi-koshi. The most recent debutant, Ms40w Ryusho, finished with his second-straight 5-2 record. And Sd26e Kazuma, who got injured in his first basho in July 2024, continued his comeback by adding the Sandanme yusho to the Jonokuchi yusho he claimed in May; his record during his return is now 20-1, and he should be ranked right around Ms15 in November. Finally, as a bonus, there’s Ms34w Ikarigata, Fujinokawa’s brother. He debuted as a Sandanme tsukedashi in January, went 6-1 in each of his two fourth-division basho, had a 3-4 setback in March in his first Makushita appearance, but has since recovered with consecutive 5-2 scores which should see him rise to around Ms20.
Losing Records
J12w Asasuiryu (the brother of Asakoryu; both started their careers under their family name Ishizaki) went 7-8 in his sekitori debut. He did do just enough to earn a second chance in Juryo; in fact, he’s likely to stay at the same rank. Ms6w Fukuzaki, who debuted alongside heya-mate Goshima and had kept pace with him until this basho, hit the single-digit Makushita wall hard, finishing with a 2-5 record that’ll send him ten or so ranks lower to regroup. And Ms9e Matsui, the first in this group to debut back in March 2024, posted his second make-koshi in his second basho in the single digits, going 3-4. He’s still only 20, and on the small side at 118 kg, so he has time to develop.
Absences
Ms14e Gyotoku looked like a beast in his first two basho, with a combined 11-3 record. He lost a hard-fought bout to Kotokenryu on Day 2, and then failed to appear for his scheduled Day 4 bout. I just rewatched his Day 2 loss, and there was no sign of injury. The only information I could find on Sumo Forum was that he had apparently been sick before the tournament, and may still not have been feeling well enough to continue. Hopefully we’ll see him back and fully fit in November; he was ranked high enough that even a winless record won’t drop him out of the division. Finally, Sd30w Kakueizan (originally Urayama) never fought in July, apparently sustaining a knee injury in training right before the tournament. He did not appear in September, and I haven’t seen any news about the timeline for his return.