BISKEK (July 5-8) – Rei Higuchi won the 54kg category in boys freestyle and five girls won titles in the female events at the Asia cadet wrestling championships in the Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Higuchi became only the sixth Japanese wrestler to win a cadet crown in the boys' events at the continental level, following Takuma Yamauchi, who won the 50kg crown in 2007.
After posting wins by fall and technical superiority, the Kasumigaura high school star rolled to a 2-0 (3-0, 7-0) win over Baurzhan Torebek (KAZ).
Meanwhile, Nao Taniyama (46kg), Miki Kawauchi (49kg), Sayaka Tsuda (60kg), Misuzu Takahashi (65kg) and Miku Saito (70kg) all won titles in the girls events as all eight entries from Japan advanced to the championship finals.
But, without entries in the lightest two categories, Japan had to settle for second place behind Kazakhstan in the team standings. Kazakhstan advanced six to the finals and gained one champion for 81 points, while Japan's eight entries tallied 77.
Two of Japan's losses in the girls' finals were to wrestlers from DPR Korea which sent only four wrestlers. Each of the wrestlers, however, took home a medal — two gold, a silver and a bronze.
In greco-roman, only two Japanese entries — Kento Makise (69kg) and Satoshi Kaizuka (100kg) — were able to post wins as Japan failed to take a medal and had to settle for four fifth-place finishes
Individual placings for Japan's entries:
Boys' freestyle
42kg – Takuma IWANAGA, Fukuoka (5th, 11 entries)
46kg – Rion ISOKAWA, Kyoto (5th, 11 entries)
50kg – Takuya TAKAHASHI, Ibaraki (11th, 14 entries)
54kg – Rei HIGUCHI, Ibaraki (1st, 11 entries)
58kg – Tasuku SONEKAWA, Fukuoka (11th, 13 entries)
63kg – Kaoru IGUCHI, Chiba (11th, 13 entries)
69kg – Shintaro UNEO, Gifu (8th, 12 entries)
76kg – Tsubasa ASAI, Kyoto (8th, 11 entries)
85kg – Koji TAKEDA, Saitama (8th, 12 entries)
100kg – Akinobu Takeuchi, Gifu (8th, 8 entries)
Girls' freestyle
38kg – No Japanese entry (5 entries)
40kg – No Japanese entry (5 entries)
43kg – Mai SUSAKI, Chiba (2nd, entries)
46kg – Nao TANIYAMA, Osaka (1st, 7 entries)
49kg – Miki KAWAUCHI, Osaka (1st, entries)
52kg – Yukina HORI, Tokyo (2nd, 8 entries)
56kg – Rumi HIROSE, Tokyo (2nd, 7 entries)
60kg – Sayaka TSUDA, Osaka (1st, 5 entries)
65kg – Misuzu TAKAHASHI, Tokyo (1st, 6 entries)
70kg – Miku SAITO, Tokyo (1st, 5 entries)
Boys' greco-roman
42kg – Hikaru FUKUZATO, Okinawa (10th, 10 entries)
46kg – Masashi TANAKA, Saitama (10th, 10 entries)
50kg – Keichi KAWAMOTO, Saitama (7th, 7 entries)
54kg – Masuto KAWANA, Hiroshima (5th, 10 entries)
58kg – Akinori NAKAMURA, Gunma (5th, 9 entries)
63kg – Naru YASUDA, Tottori (9th, 10 entries)
69kg – Kento MAKISE, Ibaraki (7th, 9 entries)
76kg – Tomoya SUGAHARA, Saitama (5th, 9 entries)
85kg – Ryohei HIRUTA, Ibaraki (7th, 7 entries)
100kg – Satoshi KAIZUKA, Ibaraki (5th, 8 entries)
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