KINOSHITA WINS 1ST INVITE TITLE IN DECADE FOR KANOYA CHUO

NIIGATA, Niigata (March 29) – Kirin Kinoshita won the 66kg crown on the final day of the national high school invitational wrestling tournament and became the first wrestler since 2003 to win an individual title for Kanoya Chuo (Kagoshima) high school.

Kinoshita atoned for his runner-up finish here one year ago with a win by technical superiority, 2-0 (7-0, 6-0), over Yuta Kimura from Tatebayashi (Gunma).

Asia cadet champion Rei Higuchi was the only wrestler from team champion Kasumigaura (Ibaraki) to advance to the individual finals and claimed the 55kg with a 2-0 triumph over Tanomu Maeda of Hanasaki Tokuharu (Saitama).

In a meeting of top wrestlers from west Japan, Mao Okui of Wakayama Kogyo came from behind with a third-period fall to win the 74kg title over Tsubasa Asai of Kyoto Hachiman.

Meanwhile, three first-year students won their first high school titles.  They were three-time middle school champion Yuhi Fujinami of Inabe Sogo Gakuin (Mie) at 60kg, Toshihiro Hasegawa of Jiyugaoka Gakuen (Tokyo) at 50kg and Taijo Yamamoto from Hanasaki Tokuharu.

Championship final results

50kg – Toshihiro Hasegawa (Jiyugaoka Gakuen, Tokyo) df. Yudai Fujita  (Inabe Sogo Gakuin, Mie), 2-0 (1-0=2:03, 4-3)

55kg – Rei Higuchi (Kasumigaura, Ibaraki) df. Tanomu Maeda (Hanasaki Tokuharu, Saitama), 2-0 (3-0, 2-0)

60kg – Yuhi Fujinami (Inaba Sogo) df. Shoya Shimae (Tosu Kogyo, Saga), 2-0 (2-0, 6-0=1:54)

66kg – Kirin Kinoshita (Kanoya Chuo, Kagoshima) df. Yuta Kimura (Tatebayashi, Gunma) by TF, 2-0 (7-0=1:17, 6-0=0:48)

74kg – Mao Okui (Wakayama Kogyo) df. Tsubasa Asai (Kyoto Hachiman) by fall, 3P=1:56 (0-3=2:01, 1-0=2:03, F3-3)

84kg – Koji Takeda (Saitama Sakae) df. Ryoma Furushiro (Akita Shogyo), 2-1 (1-3, 4-1, 5-0)

96kg – Taira Sonoda (Hino, Shiga) df. Masaki Okai (Hokujo, Ehime), 2-0 (3-0, 1-0)

120kg – Taijo Yamamoto (Hanasaki Tokuharu) df. Masahiro Miyahara (Keiyo, Chiba) by fall, 1P-1:49 (F4-0)

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