NEARLY 1200 WRESTLERS AT KIDS NAT’L C’SHIPS

NIIGATA, Niigata (July 29-31) – A total of 1,187 wrestlers from 176 clubs from around Japan and Korea took part in the schoolboys and schoolgirls national championships at Higashi Sogo Sports Center in the city of Niigata.

The meet, which crowned champions in 93 weight categories, saw Jintaro Motoyama of the Yokkaichi Juniors club in Mie win for a seventh straight year as he took the 42kg crown for sixth graders.

The meet also saw the debut of the Thunder Kids club from Utsunomiya, Tochigi coached by 1994 world champion Mitsuko Funakoshi, who herself started wrestling as a fourth grader in Tochigi.