2019 Akita International Sumo Basho

2019 Akita International Sumo Basho
Details
Date	June 8
Location	Akita Budokan
No. Men	13
No. Women	7
Men's Championship
Champion	Mengkin Ragan
Runner-up	Dean Ruetzler
Fighting Spirit	Christian Grande
No. of bouts	36
Women's Championship
Champion	Kate Smith
Runner-up	Amber Shamma
Fighting Spirit	Elsa Pansilvania Manjate
No. of bouts	16
← 2018	2023 →

The 15th Annual Akita International Sumo Basho (第十五回秋田県国際相撲場所) was a charity sumo tournament that was held on June 8th by Charity Akita. Every year JETs and friends gather from all across Tohoku (and some farther still) to decide who is worthy of the title of Akita's Yokozuna.

This tournament would mark the last time the Akita International Sumo Basho was held before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a hiatus. The tournaments resumed in 2023.

Details

• Date: Saturday, June 8th 2019
• Place: Akita Budokan, Akita City
• Price: (CHECK)
  • Rikishi (participants): ¥1,000. Arrive no later than 8:30. Upon arrival, volunteers will assist with putting on the mawashi, explain the rules governing the bouts, and give tips on how to fight.
  • Spectators ¥1,000, high school and junior high school students ¥500, children free
  • Volunteers ¥500

Wrestlers

Men's

Name	Country	Hometown	Akita	Shikona		Slogan
Dean Ruetzler		Vermont	Iwate	ゴリラの里	Gorilla Village	Poise & Concentration
Mengkin Ragan		Akita	Central	広東雄	Koutouyuu	Doing what I want to do
Todd Horner		Alberta	South	煙突	Smoke Stacks	死ぬまでガッツポーズ
Owen Cunningham		Kilkenny	North	相撲猿	SumOweN	... and there is no welcome mat.
Toma Ohashi		Akita	Central	麦酒川	ビールがわ	Let's get drinks happily
Matthew Rangel		Nebraska	North	いただきマシュー		いいーーーじゃん
Chris Dean		Mississippi	Central	坊主鷲	The Bald Eagle of Akita	I'm Mary Poppins y'all!
Rogelio Rodríguez Luna		Mexico City	Central	フラカン・ロドリゲズ	Huracan Rodríguez	芸は身を助ける
Christian Grande		?	South	千代の鳥海	Chiyonochokai	All in, all the time.
Cameron Chorpenning		?	North	カメハメ山
Katlin Long-Wright		?	Central	青怪獣	The Blue Beast of Omagari	Rise and rise again
Manuel Nopeia		?	Central	エルバのぺ	Elvanope	Born to win
Nicholas Niculescu		?	Central	夜の海

Women's

Name	Country	Hometown	Akita	Shikona		Slogan
Amber Shamma		Texas	Central	ガンバアンバ	Ganba Anbaa	If they ain't Texan, I ain't flexin'
Jillian Ocampo		Texas	South	爆竹	Firecracker	All it takes is a spark
Kate Smith		Vancouver	South	ケートっち	Lil K8	I'm passionate about dogs, just not crazy about b*tches
Elsa Pansilvania Manjate		Chokwé	Central	バーニア	Vânia
Danielle Manos		Maryland	Central	ママダニ		though she be but little she is fierce
Besmah Enam		?	North	南の城
Gina Milano		Florida	Iwate		Patty LuPain	This isn't Rupaul's best friend race

Officials

The officiating for the 2019 tournament, as well as special prize decisions was overseen by current Akita JETs:

• Peter Hall
• Derek Bonilla
• Jeremy Ma
• Aki Regan
• Saijel Kerai
• Cathy Sullivan
• Amanda Lockwood
• Lucas Woodall

Publicity

NHK News

NHK Akita News Web article

Bouts

Men's opening rounds

Men's Group

Wrestler	Wins	Losses
Dean Ruetzler	5	0
Mengkin Ragan	5	0
Todd Horner	4	1
Owen Cunningham	3	2
Katlin Long-Wright	3	2
Chris Dean	3	2
Manuel Nopeia	3	2
Christian Grande	2	3
Cameron Chorpenning	2	3
Rogelio Luna	2	3
Toma Ohashi	1	4
Matthew Rangel	1	4
Nicholas Niculescu	1	4

• Green: Advance to semi-finals
• Yellow: Playoff

Round 1

East		Video	West
	Chris Dean	watch	Manuel Nopeia	○
○	Katlin Long-Wright	watch	Nicholas Niculescu
○	Matthew Rangel	watch	Rogelio Luna
○	Cameron Chorpenning	bye
○	Todd Horner	watch	Toma Ohashi
○	Mengkin Ragan	watch	Owen Cunningham
○	Dean Ruetzler	watch	Christian Grande

Round 2

East		Video	West
○	Nicholas Niculescu	bye
○	Chris Dean	watch	Rogelio Luna
○	Katlin Long-Wright	watch	Manuel Nopeia
○	Christian Grande	watch	Cameron Chorpenning
○	Todd Horner	watch	Matthew Rangel
○	Mengkin Ragan	watch	Toma Ohashi
○	Dean Ruetzler	watch	Owen Cunningham

Round 3

East		Video	West
○	Chris Dean	watch	Nicholas Niculescu
○	Owen Cunningham	watch	Toma Ohashi
	Christian Grande	watch	Manuel Nopeia	○
	Todd Horner	watch	Katlin Long-Wright	○
○	Mengkin Ragan	watch	Matthew Rangel
○	Dean Ruetzler	watch	Cameron Chorpenning
		bye	Rogelio Luna	○

Round 4

East		Video	West
	Nicholas Niculescu	watch	Rogelio Luna	○
	Toma Ohashi	watch	Chris Dean	○
○	Owen Cunningham	watch	Matthew Rangel
○	Todd Horner	watch	Cameron Chorpenning
○	Mengkin Ragan	watch	Christian Grande
○	Dean Ruetzler	watch	Katlin Long-Wright
○	Manuel Nopeia	bye

Round 5

East		Video	West
○	Cameron Chorpenning	watch	Matthew Rangel
○	Owen Cunningham	watch	Rogelio Luna
○	Christian Grande	watch	Nicholas Niculescu
○	Todd Horner	watch	Manuel Nopeia
○	Mengkin Ragan	watch	Katlin Long-Wright
○	Dean Ruetzler	watch	Chris Dean
		bye	Toma Ohashi	○

Men's play-off

• Four men were tied for fourth place, three needed to be eliminated. Single elimination fights decided who would proceed.

Play-offs

East		Video	West
○	Owen Cunningham	watch	Manuel Nopeia
	Chris Dean	watch	Katlin Long-Wright	○
○	Owen Cunningham	watch	Katlin Long-Wright

Women's opening rounds

Women's Group

Group	Wins	Losses
Kate Smith	5	0
Amber Shamma	3	1
Elsa Pansilvania Manjate	3	2
Gina Milano	2	2
Danielle Manos	1	3
Besmah Enam	1	3
Jillian Ocampo	0	4

• Green: Advance to final
• Kate and Vania fought 5 fights, all other wrestlers fought 4

Round 1

East		Video	West
○	Elsa Pansilvania Manjate	watch	Jillian Ocampo
○	Amber Shamma	watch	Danielle Manos
○	Kate Smith	watch	Besmah Enam

Round 2

East		Video	West
○	Danielle Manos	watch	Besmah Enam
	Amber Shamma	no video	Elsa Pansilvania Manjate	○
○	Kate Smith	watch	Gina Milano

Round 3

East		Video	West
	Elsa Pansilvania Manjate	watch	Gina Milano	○
○	Amber Shamma	watch	Jillian Ocampo
○	Kate Smith	watch	Danielle Manos

Round 4

East		Video	West
	Besmah Enam	watch	Elsa Pansilvania Manjate	○
○	Amber Shamma	watch	Gina Milano
○	Kate Smith	watch	Jillian Ocampo

Round 5

East		Video	West
	Jillian Ocampo	watch	Besmah Enam	○
○	Gina Milano	watch	Danielle Manos
○	Kate Smith	watch	Elsa Pansilvania Manjate

Men's semi finals

East		Video	West
○	Mengkin Ragan	watch	Todd Horner
○	Dean Ruetzler	watch	Owen Cunningham

Finals

Women's final

East		Video	West
○	Kate Smith	watch	Amber Shamma

Men's final

East		Video	West
○	Mengkin Ragan	watch	Dean Ruetzler

Awards

Men's Champion: Mengkin Ragan
Men's Runner-up: Dean Ruetzler
Men's Fighting Spirit Prize: Christian Grande
Men's Encouragement Award: Toma Ohashi

Women's Champion: Kate Smith
Women's Runner-up: Amber Shamma
Women's Fighting Spirit Prize: Elsa Pansilvania Manjate
Women's Encouragement Award: Jillian Ocampo

Statistics

Individual Records

Name	Country	Wins	Losses	PCT %	Wins	Losses	PCT %
Mengkin Ragan	Japan	7	0	1.000
Kate Smith	Canada	6	0	1.000
Dean Ruetzler	USA	6	1	0.857
Todd Horner	Canada	4	2	0.667
Katlin Long-Wright	Canada	3	2	0.600	4	3	0.571
Chris Dean	USA	3	2	0.600	3	3	0.500
Amber Shamma	USA	3	2	0.600
Elsa Pansilvania Manjate	Mozambique	3	2	0.600
Owen Cunningham	Ireland	3	3	0.500	5	3	0.625
Manuel Nopeia	Mozambique	2	2	0.500	2	3	0.400
Gina Milano	USA	2	2	0.500
Christian Grande	USA	2	3	0.400
Cameron Chorpenning	USA	2	3	0.400
Rogelio Luna	Mexico	1	3	0.250
Danielle Manos	USA	1	3	0.250
Besmah Enam	USA	1	3	0.250
Matthew Rangel	USA	1	4	0.200
Toma Ohashi	Japan	0	4	0.000
Nicholas Niculescu	USA	0	4	0.000
Jillian Ocampo	USA	0	4	0.000
		Standard bouts			with playoff bouts

Country Records

Country	Wrestlers	Wins	Losses	PCT %	Wins	Losses	PCT %
Canada	3	12	3	0.800	13	4	0.765
Japan	2	6	3	0.667
Mozambique	2	5	4	0.556	5	5	0.500
Ireland	1	3	3	0.500	5	3	0.625
United States	11	7	18	0.280	7	19	0.269
Mexico	1	1	3	0.250
		Standard bouts			with playoff bouts

• Bouts between compatriots are not included.
• Forfeits are not included.

Gallery

• 
  2019 Basho
  Japanese
• 
  2019 Banzuke
• 
  Wrestlers group photo
• 
  Scoreboard
• 
  Scoreboard

See also

• Facebook Event Page
• Akita International Sumo Basho
• Charity Akita

Years of the Akita International Sumo Basho V • T
					2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
2020	2021	2022	2023	2024