Rōga Tokiyoshi

Rōga Tokiyoshi (狼雅 外喜義) is a Russian-Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Kyzyl, Tuva. Wrestling for the Futagoyama stable, he made his professional debut in September 2018, and became sekitori when he reached the jūryō division in November 2022. As of September 2018, he is the only wrestler from Russia competing in professional sumo.

Early life and sumo background
Rōga was born to a Buryat father and a Tuvan and Russian mother. He grew up in Kyzyl, Tuva (Russia), a region near the border of Mongolia. As a kid he practiced sambo wrestling and judo. He moved to Mongolia at the age of 14 and obtained the Mongolian nationality at the age of 15. The adoption of Mongolian nationality has been the source of confusion since his professional debut, with Rōga first listed as Mongolian on the Japan Sumo Association website although he himself insists that he is Russian.

When he was 15, he travelled to Japan to participate in the 2014 Hakuhō Cup. He placed 8th in the individual junior high school division, so Yokozuna Hakuhō recommended him to enroll at Tottori Jōhoku High School's sumo club, where he became classmate with future makuuchi-ranked wrestler Takerufuji. In his third year, he defeated wrestler Hōshōryū at the Inter-High School Championships to become the first foreign-born high school yokozuna. Since then he has regularly announced his intention to close the ranking gap between himself and Hōshōryū, the latter having entered professional sumo before Rōga. After graduation, he was recruited into Futagoyama stable in September 2018 under a business visa.

Early career
Rōga was given his shikona, or ring name, because it is a combination of the first kanji (雅) from his master's name (former ōzeki Miyabiyama) and "wolf" (狼), a symbol of strength coming from his Mongolian roots. The first shikona given name that was given to him, Chikara (力), means "strength". Rōga made a strong debut as he won all seven matches in his first tournament to claim the jonokuchi championship. In the following tournament, he remained undefeated and scored a victory against former ōzeki Terunofuji, who just made his return in competition, in a playoff to win the jonidan championship. In the following tournament he scored a 5–2 record and was promoted to the makushita division. With four consecutive 5-2 records, he was promoted to makushita 8 and was close to a jūryō promotion. However, due to injury, he achieved mixed results at the top makushita ranks. In March 2022, he changed his shikona first name "Chikara" to "Tokiyoshi". He chose this specific first name as a tribute to the principal of Tottori Jōhoku High School and president of his sumo club, Tokiyoshi Ishiura. In September 2022, while ranked at the top of makushita, Rōga ended the tournament with a 4–3 record and secured a jūryō promotion along Tsushimanada for the Kyūshū tournament of November. Rōga became the first sekitori from Futagoyama stable since its establishment in 2018 and the first wrestler from Russia to be promoted to jūryō since Amūru in 2012. Since his promotion he has secured winning records, reaching the rank of juryō 1 for the September 2023 tournament. During this tournament, Rōga managed to score an eighth victory on the final day of the championship over Ōnosato, beating one of the championship leaders by sukuinage.

During the October 2023 tour, Rōga took part for the first time in the joint sekitori training sessions, normally reserved for makuuchi-ranked wrestlers. During this training, along with maegashira Shōnannoumi and komusubi Tobizaru, he took part in the largest number of bouts of the day, wrestling 17 matches. It was noted by several observers that he fought on equal terms with the wrestlers in the highest division.

Makuuchi promotion
At the banzuke unveiling for the November 2023 tournament, it was announced that Rōga would be promoted to maegashira 16, making him the first wrestler from Russia to reach the makuuchi division in 9 years, after Amūru in November 2014. On the occasion of his promotion, his master, Futagoyama Oyakata, was delighted to see him make his debut in sumo's top division only a year after being promoted to the second-highest: jūryō.