Asakōryū Takuma

Asakōryū Takuma (朝紅龍 球馬) (born September 24, 1998) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Shijonawate, Osaka. He made his debut in May 2021 and currently wrestles for Takasago stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2023. His highest rank as of May 2024 is juryo 4.

Early life
Ishizaki began sumo wrestling during his third year at Kusunoki Elementary School in Shijonawate, Osaka. In addition to sumo wrestling, he practiced karate as well during his time in elementary school. Ishizaki went on to attend Meitoku Gijuku Junior & Senior High School and in his third year of junior high school he won the group championship at the prefectural tournament and took third place in the All-Japan Junior High School Sumo Tournament. After graduating high school, Ishizaki enrolled at Nippon Sport Science University's Faculty of Sport Science where he studied martial arts. In his first year at the school, Ishizaki won the East Japan Student Sumo Championship 115 kg weight class, and in his second year, he made the top 16 for the All Japan Sumo Championship. During his fourth year, he served as the captain of the sumo club and achieved third place at the National Student Sumo Championship. After graduating, Ishizaki opted to go pro and joined Takasago stable because the stablemaster (former sekiwake Asasekiryu) was an alumnus of Ishizaki's high school.

Career
Due to Ishizaki's amateur accomplishments, he was granted sandanme tsukedashi status which allowed him to make his debut at the bottom of sandanme. He made his professional debut in May 2021 and won the sandanme yusho with a perfect 7–0 record in his first tournament. He was promoted to makushita for the following July 2021 tournament where he won his first six matches before losing to Hokuseiho on the 13th day to finish with a 6–1 record. Ishizaki was promoted to a career-best makushita 1 rank for the January 2023 tournament, however, he finished with a poor 2–5 record and was unable to capitalize on a juryo promotion. In July 2023, he finished with a 5–2 record at the rank of makushita 5 and was promoted to juryo for the following September 2023 tournament. Upon promotion to juryo, Ishizaki was given the shikona "Asakoryu" (朝紅龍). He finished with a 7–8 record in his first tournament as a sekitori, but bounced back with a 9–6 record in November 2023. In January 2024, Asakōryū finished off with a slight margin of 8-7 but bounced back again with 9-6 in March. In May, Asakōryū finishes a record of 7-8.

Fighting style
Ishizaki is proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His most often used winning kimarite is oshidashi (push out), followed by yorikiri (force out).