Tamawashi remained alone atop the leaderboard despite taking his second loss of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament at the hands of fellow rank-and-filer Wakamotoharu on Thursday.
The Mongolian-born No. 3 maegashira maintained a one-win buffer at 10-2 after his nearest rivals coming into Day 12, No. 8 Hokutofuji and No. 10 Nishikifuji, were beaten by ozeki Takakeisho and No. 1 Tobizaru, respectively.
With his win, Tobizaru moved up to the second rung of the ladder alongside Hokutofuji, Nishikifuji and No. 4 Takayasu at 9-3 with three days of competition remaining at Ryogoku Kokugikan.