Record 251-198-24 Retired September, 1998 Name Yamato Go Makuuchi rank Maegashira Weight 184 kg | Debut November, 1990 Championships 1 (Jonokuchi) Role Sumo Wrestler Height 1.89 m Siblings Glenn Heywood | |
Born George Kalima December 17, 1969 (age 54) Hawaii, USA ( 1969-12-17 ) Highest rank Maegashira 12 (March, 1997) Similar People Kyokutenho Masaru, Tosanoumi Toshio, Kaio Hiroyuki, Miyabiyama Tetsushi, Sadanoyama Shinmatsu | ||
Yamato Gō (born 17 December 1969 as George Kalima) is a former sumo wrestler from Oahu, Hawaii, United States. His highest rank was maegashira 12.
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Career
He was a schoolfriend of future yokozuna Akebono. He made his professional debut in November 1990, joining Magaki stable. His brother, Glenn, joined two months later, competing under the name of Onami. Yamato reached the salaried sekitori ranks in March 1995 when he was promoted to the jūryō division. He reached the top makuuchi division in January 1997, the first wrestler from his stable to do so since it was re-established in 1983. He chalked up a winning record of 8-7 in his debut and was ranked there for seven tournaments. He was forced to sit out the March 1998 tournament with a life-threatening bout of pneumonia which sent him down to jūryō. Still not fully recovered in May, he turned in a disastrous 1-14 record and fell to the unsalaried makushita division. Just before the July tournament he was hit by a car and was forced to withdraw once again. This sent him down to the bottom of makushita. After a 5-2 score in September he decided to retire rather than face another long struggle back up the rankings, and started up his own restaurant, Kama'āina's, in Tokyo's Roppongi district.
Although Yamato never rose high enough in the rankings to face a yokozuna in tournament competition, he once defeated Takanohana eight times in a row in training.
Fighting style
Yamato specialised in pushing and thrusting techniques, rarely fighting on the mawashi, and his two favourite kimarite were tsukidashi, or thrust out, and oshidashi, or push out.