Hidetora Hanada put an end to several notable droughts when he was crowned amateur yokozuna at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan on Dec. 6.
The 19-year-old is the first student from Nippon Sport Science University (NSSU) to lift the title since Masatsugu Onishi (later known as Yoshikaze) in 2002.
Hanada is also the first college freshman to emerge victorious at the All Japan Sumo Championships since Keita Kushima in 1986 — though the latter man also took the title one year earlier while a high school student and remains the only wrestler to achieve that feat to date.
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