CA_Wrestler

Fujinami is at 53kg. There's no way(unless there's an injury) the JWF is going to replace Sakurai at 57kg, especially since she's the 2x defending senior WC. She lost at the Asian championships, but since the weight was already qualified at last year's senior WC, that particular tournament was the last international tournament for Japan's WFS team for members that are on the Olympic team. So basically, practice to get more feel again against foreign wrestlers. Now, the entire thing would be very, very different if Sakurai hadn't placed at the senior WC last year and she didn't make weight like Rei Higuchi did at the Tokyo Olympics Asian Qualifier. If you remember, the JWF replaced Rei Higuchi with Yuki Takahashi after that whole fiasco.

Tsugumi Sakurai has never lost internationally before the Asian Championships this year. Yep, Ozaki bumped up from 62kg.

Oh and Susaki's dislocated elbow injury was also at National Team camp.

Yep, it'll be interesting at the Olympics. That's practically the same elbow injury that Susaki had in 2018 after she won the Senior Worlds and had to withdraw from the Emperor's Cup that December. She then tried to come back too early the following May too early and lost in a playoff match to Yuki Irie for the World Team spot.

So weird. I didn't even see your second post when I was posting my reply the other day. I just saw it now. Oh yeah, Fujinami's 130+ win streak is a big thing in Japanese wrestling. Especially by the media there. Like I've said many times before....the top women(especially 50, 53 and 55kg) in Japan face their toughest competition within Japan. Most of the time, you'll only see the top women face each other at the national tournaments twice a year to decide the World/Olympic team spot OR at the National open tournament where the bracket is gigantic. So for Fujinami and Sakurai to face each other was great. More recently, Fujinami(53 to 59), Morikawa(65 to 72kg, 3rd at the 2023 world championships), Ozaki(62 to 68 for the Olympics), etc bumping up 2 weight classes to challenge themselves and do well. In the past, when Susaki was 17/18 years old, she entered the National Sports Festival where there is usually only one weight class held and she dominated two years in a row at 53kg when she was wrestling seniors at 48kg.

I wouldn't consider it an upset at all, but some people might since Ozaki bumped up 2 weight classes to take the spot. Ozaki is now 4-0 against Ishii. 2-0 at 62kg and 2-0 at 68kg. The previous victory at 68kg being in the first round of the 68kg tournament this past December, 6-2.

Do or die for the Olympic spot. Ishii's team and supporters on one side of the mat, Ozaki's team on the other side and Shoko Yoshimura(Susaki's high school coach) is in her corner. I just watched it live, Ozaki was up 3-0 at the break, Ishi got 2 later on, then with 26 seconds left, Ishii got in on a low single and got a td right on the edge and it was Ishii winning, 4-3 with 9 seconds left and restart in the center! Ozaki then hit Ishii with a fantastic misdirection low single and scores the winning takedown with 2 seconds left, Osaki's camp goes nuts, Shoko goes nuts, Ozaki goes nuts. Clutch, clutch TD! Ishii is stunned beyond belief, just staring down at the mat because 9 seconds prior, she had the spot. After they raise Ozaki's hand in victory, Ishii just falls down and you can hear her crying really loudly through all of the commotion and 2 of her University coaches pick her up and both help her off the mat, but she falls back down, inconsolable. I saw Moe Kiyooka there, not sure if Sakurai was there. Hug from Shoko Japan's Womens Olympic Freestyle team is now complete: -50kg- Yui Susaki (Shoko Yoshimura hs wresting academy coach) -53kg- Akari Fujinami -57kg- Tsugumi Sakurai 62kg- Sakura Motoki 68kg- Nonoka Ozaki (Shoko Yoshimura hs wresting academy coach) 76kg- Yuka Kagami (Shoko Yoshimura hs wresting academy coach)

Sakurai was going 1000% during the match to try and beat Fujinami. The thing is that both of them have wrestled against each other a lot at the national team camps and from what I've read, Fujinami definitely went up to challenge Sakurai. I watched the match and Sakurai didn't really come close to threatening Fujinami. So for these duals, I can't remember exactly, but I think 4 collegiate teams were there. Sakurai's team actually had the best record, but everybody was there to really see Fujinami vs Sakurai.

I've always thought she'd go up to 57kg in the future after her senior debut just because she started so young and she's taller than most of the Japanese womens wrestlers. She's taller than Maroulis from what I remember. So, much earlier today in the East Japan University Womens League Dual meet...... Fujinami bumped up from 53kg to 59kg and BEAT 2x Senior World Champion, Tsugumi Sakurai, 5-0. Might be nothing but wanting to test herself like when Fujinami bumped up to 55kg in the collegiate championships and dominated everybody. But if she were to bump up to 57kg, I'm just guessing Susaki would move up to 53kg, then Remina Yoshimoto would take the 50kg spot. All speculation, but very interesting.....

I agree. Realistically, there is a very high chance of Kiyooka not qualifying the weight at the Asian Championships based on past performances internationally because Dan Kolov was 1st and U23 was DNP

When I said the final 2 scores, I meant that Otoguro had the last 2 takedowns and he somehow lost when it was tied, 6-6 at the end of regulation.

Sorry if the images are small. I can re-upload larger

As far as Kiyooka goes, that's the older brother of Moe Kiyooka, who wrestles at 53kg and 55kg for the women. She beat Okuno(2023 55kg World Champion) in the finals of the Emperor's Cup. I was watching live, but Otoguro's foot injury was definitely bothering him during the entire match. Unfortunately for Japan and fans of Otoguro, that's how the qualification process is. Let's say *if* for some reason (as the previous poster above me mentioned).....if Kiyooka doesn't qualify the weight at the Asian qualifiers as Higuchi famously didn't due to weight, then and ONLY then will the Japan Wrestling Federation have the power to send somebody else besides Kiyooka--enter Otoguro OR Ono(who placed second at the Emperor's Cup). Then Otoguro/Ono would have to compete at the last chance qualifier to qualify the weight for Paris. Then after that, Kiyooka and Otoguro/Ono would have a wrestle-off. As far as Kiyooka goes, he's had mixed success internationally. He didn't compete at the 2023 Zagreb Open, but he did win the Dan Kolov ranking tournament last year where he beat Destribats in the quarters. At U23 he DNPd and lost both matches. In the 2023 Meiji Cup(June) he placed 7th at 65kg. Otoguro won that tournament. As far as the match goes I'm re-watching it because I remember when I watched it live, I thought Otoguro was robbed: -Hand fighting until close to 5:00 when Otoguro took a shot and didn't score. Kiyooka was warned for stalling. -Restart in center, more hand fighting, Kiyooka trying to get a right underhook while Otoguro works a 2 on 1. Otoguro drops down on the right at 5:00 to try and snatch the leg, but nothing. Both back to center and hand fighting again. -Around 4:40 another stalling call and they restart in the center. 4:31, Kiyooka snaps Otoguro and goes left side single, scramble with Otoguro on top, Kiyooka below, Kiyooka comes out the back to get 2, then is able to lock up a lace and send Otoguro OOB, 4-0 Kiyooka. 4:14. Otoguro's foot injured again. -Restart in the center, more hand fighting, 3:24 Otoguro called for stalling. Right before the break, Otoguro gets in, but Kiyooka with a whizzer and they start going OOB, but...Otoguro sneaks a leg in and flips Kiyooka over for 2. Otoguro locked up a lace and turned Kiyooka, but they were already called OOB with 1.76 sec left. -BREAK- -restart, hand fighting. Kiyooka trying to work a 2 on 1, but Otoguro having none of it. Both trying to work right underhooks, 2:42 left. Back in the center, Otoguro almost hits a duck, but Kiyooka backs out. More hand fighting, working for underhooks, etc in the center, 2:00 remaining. Restart in the center, Otoguro warned. Hand fighting, Otoguro snap and shot but nothing, 1:38. Kiyooka working underhooks, shoots and nothing. Hand fighting, Otoguro reaches under for the far side leg, but Kiyooka hops out of the way, 1:25. Otoguro trying to get an underhook in, nothing. :54 sec left Kiyooka snaps Otoguro, gets Otoguro's right leg and Otoguro hips out. Kiyooka was in deep on that leg. :48 left. Action going crazy, :43 Kiyooka shoots and gets under. It looks exactly like before when they scrambled and Kiyooka came out the back, BUT Otoguro chest wraps Kiyooka with :38 left! In the same motion as Kiyooka was getting flipped over for exposure, he swung onto Otoguro's left leg while both are on the mat and Otoguro hips into Kiyooka and flattens him out, Kiyooka underneath :30 left. Kiyooka still has one leg and he sucks it in and starts standing up, but Otoguro chest wraps him AGAIN. Keep in mind, Kiyooka wasn't initiating any takedown, he was trying to stand up while holding Otoguro's right leg. In that same motion after Kiyooka got chest wrapped, Otoguro chest wraps Kiyooka AGAIN. As Kiyooka flips over, he rolls out behind Otoguro, but the ref called OOB. Score now is 8-4, Otoguro with 22 sec left. Kiyooka thinks he got a td, but they gave Kiyooka 1 for reversing the position. Score is 8-5 with :20 left. Kiyooka's coach throws the brick in and they go to replay. When Otoguro hit that second chest wrap and Kiyooka spun around, I'm pretty sure they're saying that Kiyooka was out, but Otoguro's entire body was in bounds. Score is now 8-5, then the score changes to 8-6, then the score changes to 6-6!!!!!!!! Otoguro goes over to his coaches and is basically WTF is going on and he's pissed because of the score. Matside ref is telling him to get back to center. -They restart with :20 left. Both are trying to score, then around :16, Otoguro tries a snap, but Kiyooka gets down to Otoguro's leg. Otoguro tries a chest wrap, but Kiyooka drops down and gets to Otoguro's leg again and comes out the side looking for control, Otoguro basically goes into the splits defending it. Otoguro gets up and gets out on top of Kiyooka with 6.35 left and is trying for a crotch lift, 3.42 sec left AND LIFTS Kiyooka OVER with 1.18 sec left. Ref scores 2 for Otoguro with .76 sec left. At 0:00 2 points is added to the scoreboard for Otogruo, 8-6. Blue brick comes flying in for some reason. Big review, going over multiple camera angles and they seem to be focusing on back exposure for both of them on that crotch lift. I think what they're looking at specifically is when Otoguro initiated the croth lift, Kiyooka's back didn't go past 90 degrees, but Otoguro's did. The PA announcer then says the challege is successful, the crowd goes crazy, Kiyooka goes crazy, the ref is motioning for Otoguro to come back to center. Otoguro is motioning about the back exposure to the matside judge and Otoguro gets a yellow card. Of course Otoguro is pissed. One of Otoguro's coaches are looking at the matside judges like WTF are you thinking while Kiyooka shakes the other one of Otoguro's coaches hand. Final score was 6-6.....I still don't know how they gave Kiyooka the win if the score was tied. Otoguro had the final 2 scores. They gave that yellow card after they declared Kiyooka the winner. - -

Ozaki beat Morikawa, 7-0 a little while ago. A pushout, then a td and 2 exposures. Will face Ishii in a playoff match at a later date to decide the Olympic rep spot at 68kg.

Was too tired to post this earlier, but Ozaki beat Ishii, 6-2. Ozaki had 3 TDs and Ishii had a pushout point and another on activity. Ishii was definitely up for the match, but Ozaki's defense was really good. Ozaki also teched her 2nd round match and won the semis, 8-1. Her semis opponent beat Kawai 4-4, on criteria in the quarters. In the quarters on the opposite side, Morikawa beat Rin Miyaji(2021 Olso 68kg silver), 3-2. She then teched Masasko Furuichi in the semis. It'll be Ozaki vs Morikawa for the title, then a playoff match against Ishii in at a later time.