As reported late Monday, American Jonidan Wakichiro prevailed in his 5th match over the massive Maeta, brining his record to 3-2, one win away from his kachi-koshi. Maeta is so large (about 500 pounds) that he can barely move under his own power, but Wakaichiro applied several brutal tsuppari and knocked him off balance. Isaac Newton took care of the rest.
Well done to Wakaichiro, everyone at Tachiai is looking forward to your next match.
Our favorite Jonidan rikishi holds a 2-2 record going into day 10, needing to win 2 of his last 3 matches to secure a winning record, and promotion to the next highest division. A tough road, but the man from Humble Texas is up for the fight. Facing him on day 10 is the gargantuan Maeta Masaru from the somewhat troubled Shibatayama stable. Maeta is 213 kg. Consider that if you will – that’s just short of 500 pounds by US reckoning.
As Wakaichiro rises in rank, he must have winning strategies for taking care of these truly massive rikishi. Thankfully he has yet to face the planetary Orora, who is at present the largest rikishi in recorded history. Maeta is 35 years old, and has been doing sumo since 2005 – so 12 years or so. He has been as high as Makushita, and has even won the Makushita yusho. So Maeta is quite formidable, albeit fading rikishi.
We are eager to see the outcome of this bout, and we wish good fortunes to Wakaichiro on day 10.