Otoguro Becomes Japan’s Youngest Male World Wrestling Champion

October 23, 2018

Budapest- Takuto Otoguro won the final in the men's freestyle 65-kilogram class at the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest on Monday, becoming Japan's youngest world champion in men's wrestling, including the Olympics.

The wrestler aged 19 years and 10 months broke the previous record set by Yuji Takada in 1974 at the age of 20 years and six months.

In the final, Otoguro from Yamanashi Gakuin University in central Japan beat Bajrang Punia from India, the winner in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, 16-9 to win his first gold medal in the world championships. He participated in the competition for the first time.

By aggressively tackling the tough opponent, Otoguro took the lead in the first period 7-6.

Soon after the opening of the second period, the Japanese wrestler twisted his right ankle and could not raise himself up for a while due to severe pain.

Having more than two minutes to go, however, Otoguro went on the offensive, believing that making a defensive move would force him to lose, he said after the match. He eventually succeeded in stretching his lead to win the match.

Otoguro's outstanding talent as a wrestler has gathered attention since he was an elementary school boy.

When he became a junior high school student, Otoguro joined the Japanese Olympic Committee's Elite Academy. He won the national competition for high school students for three consecutive years.

After entering university, Otoguro suffered from injuries.

But this year, he came back into the spotlight by winning the Meiji Cup all-Japan tournament in June for the first time. He won a playoff match to get the chance to participate in the world championships.

"I knew he would win," said Takada, the head coach of Yamanashi Gakuin University's wrestling team and the previous record holder for the youngest Japanese world champion in men's wrestling.

He added, "Having a flexible body, Otoguro does wrestling of a different dimension."

Otoguro said his goal was to become the world champion by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. "I'll aim high even though I'm now in a position to be chased," he said. Jiji Press