Takuto Otoguro

Otoguro begun wrestling at a young age. During his junior high school years, he studied and trained at the Elite Academy, which is hosted by the Japanese Olympic Committee.[2].His first international appearance came at the 2013 Cadet World Championships, where he claimed a bronze medal.[3] After earning the 2014 Cadet Asian Championship,[4] Otoguro was unable to medal at the 2014 Cadet World Championship, placing eleventh.[5] In 2015, Otoguro became a Cadet World Champion.[6]

Otoguro made his senior freestyle debut on April 2018, at the World Cup, where he posted wins over '16 World Champion and four-time NCAA DI champion Logan Stieber and India's '17 Junior Asian Champion Sharvan.[7][8] Otoguro then comfortably claimed the All-Japan Invitational crown with a tremendous 6–0 win in the finals against '16 Olympic Silver medalist Rei Higuchi, qualifying him for the JPN World Team Trials.[9] At the WTT, he faced '18 Asian Championship runner-up Daichi Takatani, whom he was able to flawlessly drive to a technical fall in under two minutes to claim the spot.[10]

At the World Championships, Otaguro made his way to the semifinals with three technical falls, including one over the accomplished veteran Vasyl Shuptar. In the semis, he had a 25-point score match against 18' Russian National champion Akhmed Chakaev, whom he was able to edge 15–10 to make the finals. In the finals, he had another 25-point score match, now against '18 Asian Games Gold medalist Bajrang Punia, whom he defeated 16–9 to claim the World Championship at 65 kilograms.[11][12] In doing so, Otaguro became the youngest Japanese wrestler to ever win a world title at the age of 19.[13] He then wasted no time and became Japan's National Champion with wins over the accomplished Rei Higuchi and '18 Asian Games Silver medalist Daichi Takatani (by technical fall), being named the Outstanding Wrestler.[14] After his championship performance through 2018, Otaguro was named one of the Breakout Performers of the Year by United World Wrestling.[15]

Otoguro was not able to compete at the Asian Championships nor the World Cup due to a knee injury and was able to practice again a month before the All-Japan Invitational Championships.[16] At the tournament, limited preparation seemed to affect Otoguro's, who lost by technical fall to Rei Higuchi, in his first career loss as a senior.[17] As the '18 Japan National champion, Otoguro rematched Higuchi at the WTT, and was able to defeat him to earn the spot.[18]

At the World Championships, the returning champion got through the first round with a comfortable 6–0 score, but was then soundly defeated by two-time World Championship runner-up and eventual winner of the championship Gadzhimurad Rashidov with a score of 1–8.[19] As the Russian kept advancing, Otoguro was able to go through repechage, where he had a 20-point score battle against three-time World and European Champion Haji Aliyev, whom he edged 11–9, and a 6–1 victory over Haji Mohamad Ali to make it to the third-place match. In the bronze-medal match, he was defeated by '18 Russian National runner-up Ismail Musukaev to place fifth.[20] Otoguro then became a two-time Japan National Champion and Olympian on December, with a victory over '17 U23 World champion Rinya Nakamura in the finals.[21]

Otoguro came back in big fashion on February, when he claimed the '20 Asian Championship while posting notable and dominant victories over '19 World Championship runner-up and three-time Asian Champion Daulet Niyazbekov (10-3) and the accomplished veteran Bajrang Punia in a rematch (10-2).[22]

Otoguro was scheduled to represent Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics on August,[23] however, the Olympic Games were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and are now expected to take place on August 1–7, 2021.[24]