Yuya Matsutani
| Shōhōzan Yūya | |
|---|---|
| 松鳳山 裕也 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Yūya Matsutani February 9, 1984 Fukuoka prefecture, Japan |
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 134 kg (295 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Nishonoseki |
| University | Komazawa University |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | March, 2006 |
| Highest rank | Komusubi (Jan, 2013) |
| Championships | 1 (Jūryō) 2 (Makushita) 1 (Jonidan) |
| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (3) |
| Gold Stars | 4 Harumafuji (3) Kakuryū |
| * Up to date as of May 1, 2017. | |
Shōhōzan Yūya (松鳳山 裕也?) (born February 2, 1984 as Yūya Matsutani) is a sumo wrestler from Chikujō, Fukuoka, Japan. He made his professional debut in March 2006, reaching the top makuuchi division in November 2011. He has earned three Fighting Spirit prizes to date, and has been runner-up in one tournament. He has four kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna, three earned against Harumafuji and one against Kakuryū. The highest rank he has reached is komusubi, which he first achieved in 2013.
He played baseball and judo in his junior high school years, but on transferring to an industrial and science high school in nearby Ōita Prefecture he joined the sumo club after being scouted by the coach at the school. In his second and third years he participated in two annual regional tournaments. In these tournaments, he managed to reach the best eight, but was beaten both times by future ōzeki Kotoshōgiku. In Komazawa University, he was a regular on the sumo team and managed to be runner up for the championship at a national competition.
His successes at this level garnered him many invitations from various sumo stables but chose to enter Matsugane, the stable that first approached him (it has since changed its name to Nishonoseki). He entered the professional ring in May 2006, fighting under his own surname of Matsutani. He was not able to achieve makushita tsukedashi status as he had never managed to win a national tournament before turning pro. He posted a decent jonokuchi debut with a 5-2 record. In the next tournament, he took the jonidan championship with a perfect 7-0 record and a playoff victory over fellow up-and-comer Sakaizawa. Three strong tournaments in sandanme got him promotion to the third makushita division in March, 2007. He had had a very strong showing up to this point, and had claimed he wanted to make makushita before the time for his hair to be tied up in a topknot came. He did achieve this goal, and though he started out strong with two consecutive 6-1 tournaments, as is often the case with wrestlers trying to advance through makushita, this is where he began to have trouble. He would struggle in the division for exactly three years. He began to find his stride in July, 2009. He achieved a 6-1 record and had a playoff bout against the future Akiseyama, which he lost. His sumo would grow more consistent from this point and after four more tournaments in makushita in which he had only one losing tournament, he finally qualified for the second tier jūryō division for the May 2010 tournament. He was only the second wrestler in thirty-three years from Komazawa University to achieve promotion to jūryō.
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