Japan announces nominative roster for World Championships of Wrestling in New York City, Sept. 26-29

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
08/23/2001


The Japan Wrestling Federation has submitted its nominative roster of athletes that will compete in the 2001 World Championships of Wrestling in Madison Square Garden in New York City, Sept. 26-29.    Japan is the reigning World Champion team in women's freestyle wrestling, and will submit a complete six-person team in the women's division. Japan will also enter complete eight-person teams in men's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman wrestling.    The Japanese women's wrestling team will includes 2000 World Champions Hitomi Sakamoto at 51 kg and Seiko Yamamoto at 56 kg, plus three-time World Champion Kyoko Hamaguchi at 75 kg. The entry at 68 kg has not yet been determined, as three athletes are under consideration for the position.    Japan has won nine Women's World Championships team titles, including six in a row between 1989-94. In 2000, Japan finished 14 points ahead of runner-up Russia in the team standings.    The Japanese men's Greco-Roman team will be led by 2000 Olympic silver medalist Katsuhiko Nagata at 69 kg, as well as Makoto Sasamoto, who placed eighth in the 2000 Olympics at 58 kg.    The Japanese men's freestyle team features two athletes that competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia: Kazuyuki Miyata at 69 kg and Tatsuo Kawai at 85 kg.    JAPAN  Freestyle  54 kg/119 lbs - Yuki Nagao  58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Hiroki Sekikawa  63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Kazuhiko Ikematsu  69 kg/152 lbs. - Kazuyuki Miyata  76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Kunihiko Obata  85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Tatsuo Kawai  97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Kiyotaka Kodaira  130 kg/286 lbs. - Hisashi Fujita  FS Team Leader/Chef D'Equipe - Yusaku Imaizumi  Coaches/entrainers - Hideaki Tomiyama, Takahiro Wada, Takumi Adachi  Greco-Roman  54 kg/119 lbs - Tomoya Murata  58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Makoto Sasamoto  63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Masaki Imuro  69 kg/152 lbs. - Katsuhiko Nagata  76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Taichi Suga  85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Shingo Matsumoto  97 kg/213.75 lbs. - Yusuke Morikaku  130 kg/286 lbs. - Minoru Hamaue  GR Team Leader/Chef D'Equipe - Yamato Oshima  GR Coaches/entrainers - Masakazu Hijikata, Hiromichi Ito, Hiroshi Kado  Women  46 kg/101.25 lbs. - Misato Shimizu  51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Hitomi Sakamoto  56 kg/123.25 lbs. - Seiko Yamamoto  62 kg/136.5 lbs. - Rena Iwama  68 kg/149.75 lbs. - Eri Sakamoto, Mimi Sugawara or Norie Saito  75 kg/165.25 lbs. - Kyoko Hamaguchi  Team Leader/Chef D'Equipe - Shuji Maruyama  Coaches/entrainers - Saburo Sugiyama, Kazuto Sakae, Ryo Kanehama  Referees/arbitres - Yoshimitsu Naito, Koji Fukuda, Osamu Saito