 In March 1983 he shared second place with a 12–3 score, and in May he swept the rest of the field aside, losing only to Takanosato and winning his first tournament championship with a superb 14–1 record.After that tournament he was promoted to sumo's second highest rank of "ōzeki".Hokuten'yū had accumulated 37 wins over the course of the previous three tournaments, and it was seen as only a matter of time before he joined his stablemate Kitanoumi at the rank of "yokozuna".