OTA REPEATS IN HIGH SCHOOL GRECO NAT’LS

    SAKAI, Osaka (August 17-19) – Defending champion Minoru Ota registered three falls over six matches at 55kg and won his second straight high school greco-roman national championship title.

    Two weeks after finishing as runner-up in the freestyle high school nationals, Ota dominated in the classic style and defeated Shinya Kanazawa (Gunma) in a one-sided final with a body tackle and headlock.

    Last year's Asian cadet silver medalist Kenichiro Fumita rolled over the field at 50kg, winning each of his matches by a 2-0 score.

    Meanwhile, at the heavy end of the weight categories, Shin Sonoda won the battle of high school freestyle champs for the 120kg crown, coming from behind to edge 96kg freestyle winner Koki Yamamoto (Saitama).

    Ryuta Yonaha won his third title (freestyle and greco-roman) of the season at 84kg, while Urasoe Kogyo teammate Masaaki Shikiya shut out all six opponents he faced and repeated at 96kg champion.

    Individual winners were:

50kg – Kenichiro Fumita, Nirasaki Kogyo (Yamanashi)
55kg – Minoru Ota, Yani Gakuen (Yamaguchi)
60kg – Yukihiro Inoue, Ikuei (Hyogo)
66kg – Keita Yuda, Takamatsu Kita (Kagawa)
74kg – Ryota Nagai, Kagawa Chuo
84kg – Ryuta Yonaha, Urasoe Kogyo (Okinawa)
96kg – Masaaki Shikiya, Urasoe Kogyo
120kg – Shin Sonoda, Hino (Shiga)