 He won the "jūryō" division "yūshō" or championship in his debut tournament in the division (the first wrestler to achieve this since Kotochitose in 1979), but then never won another bout as a "sekitori," as he suffered a left knee medial collateral ligament injury in training with members of the Nihon University sumo club (including later top division wrestler Daishoyama) and was forced to withdraw from the next tournament after ten straight losses.He had been ineligible for the "kōshō seido" rank protection as the injury had not taken place in a tournament, and he was demoted to "makushita.