Beginning the sport at age 22, he entered nearly seven years later than many non-college aspirants. The combination of his size—he already weighed 192 kg (423 lb) at a height of 6' 5.75" (197 cm)—and training as a wrestler were to his advantage in learning and advancing in the sport. The novice won all of his 24 bouts in his eight-month active career, and was later renamed , surname meaning Heavenly Mountain Harp. The novelty of being a rare Westerner Rikishi in the mid-1980s, and the third-ever Caucasian, garnered him press coverage, and he earned the additional nickname of the "Canadian Comet".