MEDIA ADVISORY: National High School Hall of Fame events on July 1
Clarissa Chun will be officially inducted to the 2023 class of the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame on July 1 at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Seattle, Washington. You can watch the press conference and the induction ceremony streaming live on the NFHS Network.
The Hall of Fame press conference with all 12 inductees will take place at 9:00 a.m. HST. The Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony will begin at 3:00 p.m. HST with the introduction of the honorees, followed by a brief pause in the festivities for the dinner, then continue with the presentation of the inductee videos, awards and medallions. Kapaa High School principal, Tommy Cox, who also serves as HHSAA Executive Board president and an at-large member of the NFHS Board of Directors, will present Clarissa with the medallion.
Chun, a 1999 Roosevelt High School alumnus, became the first high school wrestler in the country to win an official state high school girls wrestling title when she won the 98-pound weight class the first year the girls division was created. Chun went on to win a second state championship in 1999 to become one of the first two-time girls gold medalists in the state.
In the last two decades since then, she has been a trailblazer in the growth of women’s wrestling across the country. Chun has garnered over 90 accolades and titles before becoming the head coach at the University of Iowa, the first NCAA Division I program from a Power Five conference to sponsor women's wrestling.
In October 2021, Chun became one of four women to be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with Distinguished Member status for the Modern Era. Only 204 individuals have been bestowed with Distinguished Member status since the Hall of Fame began over 40 years ago in 1976.
Chun was a five-sport athlete during her interscholastic athletic career, qualifying for HHSAA state tournaments in wrestling, swimming and bowling. She was a league champion in judo and also participated in girls water polo.
Chun is just the third person from Hawaii to be inducted to the National High School Hall of Fame. The other Hawaii inductees include three-sport standout athlete Charlie Wedemeyer (Punahou ‘65) and the winningest swimming coach in state history in Jeff Meister (Punahou, 1988-present).
