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Joe Davis, right, topples his opponent en route to victory during a middleweight sumo match Aug. 25 at the John Wooden Center.

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Estonian Madis Ounapuu, left, and Hungarian Toth Barnabas square off.

By Katie Filbeck

DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR

kfilbeck@media.ucla.edu

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.

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