on Wednesday approved the promotion of Musashigawa stable wrestler Musoyama to the sport's second-highest rank of ozeki following his runnerup finish at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament. Musoyama, who won his first Emperor's Cup in the New Year tourney with a 13-2 record, posted 12 wins at the just-concluded Osaka meet, giving him a combined 35-10 record over the past three tourneys to comply with one of the JSA guidelines for ozeki promotion.
The move was rubber stamped following a JSA executive meeting at a downtown Osaka hotel on Wednesday morning.
The JSA informed Musoyama and his stable master Musashigawa of its decision to promote him to ozeki for the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in May via a messenger, who visited the wrestler's practice facility in Higashiosaka.
The 28-year-old native of Ibaraki Prefecture, a former sumo champion at Senshu University, spent a record 30 tournaments at the komusubi and sekiwake ranks before finally reaching ozeki.
Musoyama, who joins stablemate Dejima at ozeki, becomes the fifth collegiate wrestler to gain promotion to the rank.