Tsukasa Tsurumaki won the Greco-Roman 74-kg class with a victory over defending champion Taichi Suga in the final to claim his first title at the national championships on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old Tsurumaki, who pinned Sydney Olympic silver-medalist Katsuhiko Nagata in their semifinal match, was relentless in the final as he took advantage of his height and repeatedly attempted throwing techniques on his opponent. Tsurumaki, who stands 182-cm, finished third at the national invitational championships in April. The meet at Yoyogi Gymnasium Annex in Tokyo features new rules under which a wrestler who wins two periods in a six-minute, three-period match is declared the winner.