By Katie Filbeck
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]
Sumo hit UCLA hard, literally.
The UCLA Sumo Club competed Sunday Aug. 25 in the second annual
U.S. Sumo Open at the John Wooden Center. The tournament was
advertised as “the most massive international sumo event ever
in the U.S.”
It featured seven UCLA students, along with members of the Los
Angeles Police Department, competing with world champions and
various title holders in a five-hour competition.
Two UCLA students walked away with medals, 130-pound Ashlee
Irish with the women’s lightweight silver, and 253-pound Asi
Faoa with the men’s middleweight bronze. Two other students,
Peter Panayotopoulos and Peter Debelak, advanced to the semifinals
before losing in the single-elimination round.
Because of the diverse field of competitors, some matches
included 300-pound weight differences and 29-year age gaps. If the
wrestlers’ diapers alone weren’t enough to draw fans,
there was also blood, several match disputes and strong
international rivalries.
Despite its strong allure, tournament attendance was scarce.
U.S. Sumo Open Director Andrew Freund blames this low turnout on
the lack of funding to market the event. With the level of
competition featuring numerous world champions, the Wooden Center
should have been filled to its maximum capacity, he felt. Instead
empty seats were seen all over.
“UCLA recreation helped a lot. It has helped sumo grow
here as a sport,” Freund said, but added, “I am hoping
UCLA will work with us more.”
He also expressed his wish for more corporate sponsors to get
involved as well, as some countries were not able to compete
because of a lack of airfare funds.
The UCLA Sumo Club is the first universally recognized
university sumo club in the United States.
Its coach, Svetoslav Binev, is a two-time World Sumo Champion.
Peter Panayotopoulos describes the sport as “the epitome of
strength and balance.”
Among the sport’s positive aspects, he believes, are the
camaraderie between competitors and the unpredictable outcomes of
the matches.
“The fights are so quick. You win or lose in a matter of
seconds,” he said.
This year’s tournament was quite unpredictable.
Among the gold medal winners was first-time title winner Trevor
Roberts from Sacramento. He earned his competitive sports
experience by playing football, and was invited to the tournament
by a friend.
Despite the lack of competitive sumo experience, he beat both
the current North American champion and North American team silver
medalist to take the gold in the lightweight competition. This is
the third tournament he has competed in.
Other exciting matches included UCLA’s Asi Faoa, who
doubles as a linebacker on the football team, beating Mark Mireles,
the current national wrestling champion.
In the men’s openweight competition, in which wrestlers
from different classes compete, middleweight champ Aap Uspenski
beat the heavyweight champion Petar Stoyanov, who had an almost
100-pound advantage.
Unfortunately not all international teams were able to compete
due to the denial of visas. Some of the missing wrestlers included
602-pound Nigerian national power lifting champion Emeka Okeke and
nine-time world medalist Tsedendamba Bayarsaikhan of Mongolia.
Last year’s world champion Robert Paczkow also did not
compete due to injuries sustained in a recent car accident. These
losses limited some of the diversity but didn’t handicap the
event completely.
Part of the proceeds from this year’s tournament are being
donated to the Westside Special Olympics team. Athletes from the
Special Olympics team were among the crowd cheering on the
competitors.
This tournament concluded the major sumo competitions of the
year, although UCLA’s Sumo Club will participate in local
competitions each quarter.
For more information contact the California Sumo Association at
www.usasumo.com.