Tochinoshin became the first rank-and-file wrestler in nearly six years to win a grand sumo tournament on Saturday, the penultimate day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
Fighting as a No. 3 maegashira, the 30-year-old from Georgia reeled off his seventh straight win to run his record in the 15-day event at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan to 13-1.
Beginning the day two wins ahead of yokozuna Kakuryu, Tochinoshin, whose real name is Levan Gorgadze, survived a slight misstep against 177-cm dynamo Shohozan (9-5), but recovered quickly to force him over the straw.