Report card: 2024 Natsu Basho Part 5 - Midorifuji, Meisei, Onosho, Ura and Oho
The following post was first published on Sumo Stomp! on June 27 2024.
The new banzuke drops next week and I am hard at work trying to get all my 2024 natsu basho content done and dusted before that. For part five of my report card series I have a fun bunch to look at: Midorifuji, Meisei, Onosho, Ura and Oho. This might be the most watchable cohort this tournament. Though, other than Meisei, they would all be pretty disappointed in their records.
Let’s see what went wrong for them.
Midorifuji
Rank: Maegashira 6 West
Record: 5-10
Grade: E
Midorifuji had another poor showing in May. That gives him three make-kochi in a row for the first time in his top division career. In 2024 he’s 17-28 with two 5-10 tournaments.
After a good 2023, I think the division has caught up to Midorifuji. Everyone knows how potent his katasukashi is at this point and we are now seeing lots of guys put a lot of attention into defending that move. Those opponents are able to commit a lot of energy to that defense because they feel confident that Midorifuji can’t beat them if he’s not dragging down one of their limbs.
See how Meisei handled Midorifuji below:
Midorifuji immediately tried to isolate one of Meisei’s arms off the tachiai. To execute the katasukashi he needs to lock in one underhook and then bring his free hand over the top and push down on his opponent’s shoulder, on the same side he has the underhook.
You can see above that Meisei was able to halt Midorifuji at the underhook stage, by first keeping his arms close to his side and then by using his elbow as a shield. When Meisei felt that Midorifuji didn’t have a hold of him, he shot backwards and forced the smaller man to chase him. This ended with Midorifuji over reaching and being driven down to the clay.
Midorifuji had similar trouble with Shonannoumi (below).
Shonannoumi also blocked Midorifuji from setting up the katasukashi. He did it by making sure he had Midorifuji at arm’s length, not allowing him to get close enough to secure an underhook. Instead of jumping back like Meisei did, Shonannoumi opted to push forwards when he was confident Midorifuji was no threat.
Hoshoryu, who was caught out by Midorifuj’s katasukashi in the March tournament, blocked the move this time around by using an overhook. See that below.
Hoshoryu locked on his overhook (which by default gave Midorifuji an underhook) and then used his free arm to attack the opposite side, making sure Midorifuji couldn’t use his free arm to attack his left shoulder.
Sadly this tournament really showed how one dimensional Midorifuji has become, as he over relies on the pull downs against wrestlers who are sick of being caught with them.
I’d like to see him employ some trips in the forthcoming tournament. I think all the attention folks are paying to his upper body might give him good opportunities to use inside foot sweeps and outside leg trips. He might be able to finish some bouts with those alone or, at the very least, he could destabilize opponents and allow himself to push them out or over.
Takerufuji
Rank: Maegashira 6 East
Record: 0-0-15
Grade: Ungraded
Takerufuji sat out the entire 2024 natsu basho due to the ankle injury he suffered against Asanoyama on the penultimate day of the 2024 haru basho. Takerufuji made the wise decision to not push his luck here and to rehab his leg with hopes of another strong campaign in Nagoya (where he will be competing from a pretty friendly ranking spot).
Meisei
Rank: Maegashira 5 West
Record: 10-5
Grade: B+
Meisei was a lot of fun to watch this tournament. He’s one of the most active wrestlers in the division and he is capable of unsettling opponents with his constant pressure. He pressures with thrusts but also with changes in position. He doesn’t like to stand still for too long. Instead he’ll get his licks in and then side step to create some space only to crash back into his opponent for more attacks.
His bout with Onosho (below) is a good example of this.
One move Meisei has in his arsenal that I really love is his body roll. In the above bout he uses it on Onosho after the tachiai. He triggers this move after Onosho has some success pushing him backwards. The move serves both defensive and offensive purposes. It deflects Onosho’s forward pressure and then carves a beautiful opening for Meisei to attack. Onosho is fast on his feet, so he was able to get square to Meisei quickly after the body roll to take away the strong angle Meisei had created. In this situation Meisei moved away again to create more distance and take advantage of Onosho as he tried to catch up.
In his bout with Kinbozan (below), the body roll was even more effective.
This time Meisei’s opponent had all sorts of problems sorting his feet out after the move. Kinbozan was not able to get himself square to Meisei after this and Meisei was able to thrust against his side and score a good win.
When he fought Shonannoumi (below), the body roll was taken away from him because Shonannoumi pinned his right arm (while probably looking for a kotenage). Meisei found a different route to get side on, though. He slipped around Shonannoumi, grabbed the back of his belt and then put all of his weight into Shonannoumi’s hip for the force out.
This record might see Meisei jump to komusubi. At 28, he still has time to improve on that (though I doubt he makes it past his former best mark of sekiwake). Either way, though, I expect him to continue to be one of the most entertaining rikishi to watch.
Onosho
Rank: Maegashira 5 East
Record: 7-8
Grade: D+
This was a frustrating tournament for Onosho, who banked a losing record on Day 13. This was a slight step backwards for him after impressive showings in March (9-6) and January (10-5). Onosho often struggles when he gets this high in the rankings, going 3-12 at M5 in November. You have to go back to 2021 for a tournament where Onosho got a kachi-koshi from M5 or higher. This might suggest that, at 27, Onosho may have already peaked…
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