Women’s Wrestling Week: Clarissa Chun was first girls high school state champion in Hawaii
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Top Photo: KIF girl wrestlers pose with Olympic wrestler Clarissa Chun during the Pa‘ani Challenge preseason wrestling tournament on O‘ahu. Photo from the Garden Island publication.
Bottom Photo: Clarrisa Chun gives an award after her clinic at the 2015 Pa'ani Challenge at Punahou School, Honolulu Hawaii. Photo from the Pa’ani Challenge website
Clarissa Chun is one of the greatest women wrestlers in U.S. history, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and 2008 World champion in freestyle wrestling. You can’t tell the history of women’s wrestling in the USA without talking about this talented two-time Olympian.
There is a fact about her career that most people don’t know. She was the first wrestler to win an official girls wrestling state high school title in Hawaii.
The year was 1998, and Hawaii created an official girls wrestling high school state championships, right alongside the boys state championships. It was the first in the nation. Although wrestling opportunities had been growing around the nation for girls on the high school level, all of the girls were members of their boys wrestling team.
Clarissa Chun, a successful judo athlete in her youth, decided to compete in wrestling at Roosevelt High School in Honolulu as a junior. Although she had been recruited to join the sport by the wrestling coach earlier in her high school career, Chun also enjoyed being on the swim team and didn’t give it a try until that junior year.
“My high school coach tried to recruit me my freshman and sophomore year, but I was swimming. I swam with my swimming coach since fifth grade. It was hard for me to leave swimming for the wrestling team,” she said.
When she did join wrestling, her judo background became a strength, even while she was learning the basics of her new sport.
“I always told myself I would go back to judo after I wrestled. With judo experience, at least in my high school years, I relied on my throws a lot in wrestling. I felt really good getting out on bottom and riding on top. I really didn’t feel like I developed certain attacks until I got to college, feeling confident about scoring on a double leg or a single leg or a high crotch. I really relied on my throws,” she said.
A few girls joined wrestling at Roosevelt, but because the boys and girls trained together, Chun and her female teammates had the opportunity not only to improve through practice, but also to compete against boys.
“I wrestled guys throughout the season. That season, I beat out our varsity 103, so my first year, because it was a pilot year for girls wrestling, I was allowed to wrestle in the boys dual meets. We didn’t have a girls team for duals, so I got to wrestle guys for dual meets and girls for individual tournaments. When the state tournament came, I wrestled all girls,” she said.
The first Hawaii state wrestling championships for girls was included with the boys state tournament. Chun reached the finals at 98 pounds. The finals were combined with boys and girls, alternating weight classes. Because they went in weight order, Chun was in the first girls state championships finals match in state history, and when she won, she became the first girls state wrestling champion ever in Hawaii.
“It was exciting to be part of something ground breaking. I didn’t even know there was women’s wrestling until that year when I started. It was cool to be part of the boys and girls state tournament,” she said.
Chun returned to wrestling as a senior and was able to defend her state title, becoming the state’s first two-time girls high school champion. Because of her success in Hawaii, Chun and many of the other top competitors were recruited to compete on women’s college wrestling teams back in the mainland.
“I didn’t even know there was freestyle wrestling until right before I graduated when I got a packet from Missouri Valley College. ‘What’s freestyle,’ I asked. There was no Google back then, so I went on AOL and Trish Saunders name came up under freestyle,” she said.
Chun signed with Missouri Valley, moving to Marshall, Mo. to pursue college freestyle wrestling and her education. There were five Hawaiian women wrestlers who ended up at Missouri Valley, and some of the other Hawaiian wrestlers went to other women’s college teams. It was quite a big change for Chun and her peers from Hawaii.
“It was a culture shock for all of us. We were in the middle of nowhere, with not much around. We were so far away from home. The fact that there were a lot of other Hawaii people at the college made it better, and there was a bond with the wrestling team helped. For some of us, it was hard. For others, it was harder,” she said.
Chun was a star at Missouri Valley, then became a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. Women’s wrestling was added to the Olympic Games in time for the 2004 Athens Games, and Chun tried out for the first four U.S. Olympic Teams, including making a run at the 2016 U.S. Olympic squad last year.
Chun was fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, then won a gold medal at the 2008 World Championships. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. She continued competing through the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, where she did not qualify for the Rio Games, but remained a member of the Senior National Team with her third place performance.
Clarissa has become a sports hero in Hawaii, especially within the wrestling community. She has never been able to get back to see the high school state meet, which happens during the busy winter tour season for Senior wrestlers. This year, Chun was planning to return, but was selected to coach the U.S. team at the Klippan Lady Open in Sweden this weekend.
“I never got home for states. But whenever I would go home for Christmas, I would go to the Pa’ani tournament, an all-girls tournament where over 300 girls would compete from all the outer islands and Oahu. It is fun going back home now, because this is the era, the age of girls who have grown up on the mat. Their parents were into jiu jitsu or MMA or judo or wrestling. It is fun for me to go back home and see that intensity.”
There is a lot about wrestling in Hawaii which Chun is proud of, especially the fact that both boys and girls train together and support each other on the high school level.
“Even today in Hawaii, the guys and girls practice and train together. I remember going to California, and they were talking about having a separate room and a separate coach for the girls. Everything was the same. It was just like judo, where I trained with guys. I never competed against guys in judo, but I trained with guys in judo in the same dojo.
Over the years, a number of Hawaii girls have gone on to compete in college and on the Senior level. Perhaps the best female wrestler to come out of Hawaii since Chun was a competitor is four-time state champion Teshya Alo of Kamehemeha High School, who won her state titles from 2013-2016. Alo was a Cadet World champion and qualified for the U.S. Senior National Team which still in high school. Alo has said that Chun is one of her role models and heroes within wrestling
The one thing that has not happened for wrestlers in Hawaii, either boys or girls, is a college wrestling team within the state. Chun, for one, would welcome this opportunity if it can be developed.
“I would love for it to. I know they tried in the past, a decade ago, when they added another women’s team. I think it was rowing. In Hawaii, canoe paddling is big. I know they had a men’s college program in the 1970’s, because one of my judo senseis wrestled for the University of Hawaii back in the mid-70s. I would love it and I think that we could have a good program. The hardest part would be travelling. But, who doesn’t want to come to Hawaii? Everyone wants an excuse to go to Hawaii,” she said.
Chun takes great pride in her Hawaiian heritage, and recalls fondly her days as a high school wrestler there.
“I am so grateful. A lot of people ask me about what struggles I came across being a female wrestler. I was lucky that Hawaii was a state that was very open and accepting and wanted it for us,” she said
1998 HAWAII GIRLS STATE CHAMPIONS
98 - Clarissa Chun, Roosevelt
103 - Shelley Ann Tomita, Moanalua
108 - Katie Kunimoto, Castle
114 - Jill Remiticado, Iolani
121 - Renee Nakata, Moanalua
130 - Val Busch, Waiakea
140 - Lia Berge, Lahainaluna
155 - Lauwae Smith, Radford
175 - Kahea Myers, Leilehua
220 - Donnell Bradley, Radford
Bottom Photo: Clarrisa Chun gives an award after her clinic at the 2015 Pa'ani Challenge at Punahou School, Honolulu Hawaii. Photo from the Pa’ani Challenge website
Clarissa Chun is one of the greatest women wrestlers in U.S. history, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and 2008 World champion in freestyle wrestling. You can’t tell the history of women’s wrestling in the USA without talking about this talented two-time Olympian.
There is a fact about her career that most people don’t know. She was the first wrestler to win an official girls wrestling state high school title in Hawaii.
The year was 1998, and Hawaii created an official girls wrestling high school state championships, right alongside the boys state championships. It was the first in the nation. Although wrestling opportunities had been growing around the nation for girls on the high school level, all of the girls were members of their boys wrestling team.
Clarissa Chun, a successful judo athlete in her youth, decided to compete in wrestling at Roosevelt High School in Honolulu as a junior. Although she had been recruited to join the sport by the wrestling coach earlier in her high school career, Chun also enjoyed being on the swim team and didn’t give it a try until that junior year.
“My high school coach tried to recruit me my freshman and sophomore year, but I was swimming. I swam with my swimming coach since fifth grade. It was hard for me to leave swimming for the wrestling team,” she said.
When she did join wrestling, her judo background became a strength, even while she was learning the basics of her new sport.
“I always told myself I would go back to judo after I wrestled. With judo experience, at least in my high school years, I relied on my throws a lot in wrestling. I felt really good getting out on bottom and riding on top. I really didn’t feel like I developed certain attacks until I got to college, feeling confident about scoring on a double leg or a single leg or a high crotch. I really relied on my throws,” she said.
A few girls joined wrestling at Roosevelt, but because the boys and girls trained together, Chun and her female teammates had the opportunity not only to improve through practice, but also to compete against boys.
“I wrestled guys throughout the season. That season, I beat out our varsity 103, so my first year, because it was a pilot year for girls wrestling, I was allowed to wrestle in the boys dual meets. We didn’t have a girls team for duals, so I got to wrestle guys for dual meets and girls for individual tournaments. When the state tournament came, I wrestled all girls,” she said.
The first Hawaii state wrestling championships for girls was included with the boys state tournament. Chun reached the finals at 98 pounds. The finals were combined with boys and girls, alternating weight classes. Because they went in weight order, Chun was in the first girls state championships finals match in state history, and when she won, she became the first girls state wrestling champion ever in Hawaii.
“It was exciting to be part of something ground breaking. I didn’t even know there was women’s wrestling until that year when I started. It was cool to be part of the boys and girls state tournament,” she said.
Chun returned to wrestling as a senior and was able to defend her state title, becoming the state’s first two-time girls high school champion. Because of her success in Hawaii, Chun and many of the other top competitors were recruited to compete on women’s college wrestling teams back in the mainland.
“I didn’t even know there was freestyle wrestling until right before I graduated when I got a packet from Missouri Valley College. ‘What’s freestyle,’ I asked. There was no Google back then, so I went on AOL and Trish Saunders name came up under freestyle,” she said.
Chun signed with Missouri Valley, moving to Marshall, Mo. to pursue college freestyle wrestling and her education. There were five Hawaiian women wrestlers who ended up at Missouri Valley, and some of the other Hawaiian wrestlers went to other women’s college teams. It was quite a big change for Chun and her peers from Hawaii.
“It was a culture shock for all of us. We were in the middle of nowhere, with not much around. We were so far away from home. The fact that there were a lot of other Hawaii people at the college made it better, and there was a bond with the wrestling team helped. For some of us, it was hard. For others, it was harder,” she said.
Chun was a star at Missouri Valley, then became a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. Women’s wrestling was added to the Olympic Games in time for the 2004 Athens Games, and Chun tried out for the first four U.S. Olympic Teams, including making a run at the 2016 U.S. Olympic squad last year.
Chun was fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, then won a gold medal at the 2008 World Championships. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. She continued competing through the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, where she did not qualify for the Rio Games, but remained a member of the Senior National Team with her third place performance.
Clarissa has become a sports hero in Hawaii, especially within the wrestling community. She has never been able to get back to see the high school state meet, which happens during the busy winter tour season for Senior wrestlers. This year, Chun was planning to return, but was selected to coach the U.S. team at the Klippan Lady Open in Sweden this weekend.
“I never got home for states. But whenever I would go home for Christmas, I would go to the Pa’ani tournament, an all-girls tournament where over 300 girls would compete from all the outer islands and Oahu. It is fun going back home now, because this is the era, the age of girls who have grown up on the mat. Their parents were into jiu jitsu or MMA or judo or wrestling. It is fun for me to go back home and see that intensity.”
There is a lot about wrestling in Hawaii which Chun is proud of, especially the fact that both boys and girls train together and support each other on the high school level.
“Even today in Hawaii, the guys and girls practice and train together. I remember going to California, and they were talking about having a separate room and a separate coach for the girls. Everything was the same. It was just like judo, where I trained with guys. I never competed against guys in judo, but I trained with guys in judo in the same dojo.
Over the years, a number of Hawaii girls have gone on to compete in college and on the Senior level. Perhaps the best female wrestler to come out of Hawaii since Chun was a competitor is four-time state champion Teshya Alo of Kamehemeha High School, who won her state titles from 2013-2016. Alo was a Cadet World champion and qualified for the U.S. Senior National Team which still in high school. Alo has said that Chun is one of her role models and heroes within wrestling
The one thing that has not happened for wrestlers in Hawaii, either boys or girls, is a college wrestling team within the state. Chun, for one, would welcome this opportunity if it can be developed.
“I would love for it to. I know they tried in the past, a decade ago, when they added another women’s team. I think it was rowing. In Hawaii, canoe paddling is big. I know they had a men’s college program in the 1970’s, because one of my judo senseis wrestled for the University of Hawaii back in the mid-70s. I would love it and I think that we could have a good program. The hardest part would be travelling. But, who doesn’t want to come to Hawaii? Everyone wants an excuse to go to Hawaii,” she said.
Chun takes great pride in her Hawaiian heritage, and recalls fondly her days as a high school wrestler there.
“I am so grateful. A lot of people ask me about what struggles I came across being a female wrestler. I was lucky that Hawaii was a state that was very open and accepting and wanted it for us,” she said
1998 HAWAII GIRLS STATE CHAMPIONS
98 - Clarissa Chun, Roosevelt
103 - Shelley Ann Tomita, Moanalua
108 - Katie Kunimoto, Castle
114 - Jill Remiticado, Iolani
121 - Renee Nakata, Moanalua
130 - Val Busch, Waiakea
140 - Lia Berge, Lahainaluna
155 - Lauwae Smith, Radford
175 - Kahea Myers, Leilehua
220 - Donnell Bradley, Radford
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