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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 5:28 p.m., Thursday, April 9, 2009

Hawaii's Clarissa Chun, Stephany Lee win U.S. nationals wrestling titles

Advertiser Staff

Former Hawaii athletes Clarissa Chun and Stephany Lee both won women's freestyle national titles at the U.S. National Championships today.

Chun, a Roosevelt alum and a 2008 Olympian and World champion, won the 105.5-pound title with a 3-0, 1-0 victory against Sara Fulp-Allen.

Stephany Lee, a Moanalua alum and a World University champion, won the final match of the evening with a 3-0, 4-0 victory against Jenna Pavlik for the 158.5-pound title.

The champions in each division will earn No. 1 seeds for the U.S. World Team Trials on May 30-31 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The top seven finishers in each weight class qualify for the World Team Trials.

Chun, who was defeated in the bronze medal match at last summer's Olympics, didn't surrendered a point in winning all four of her national tournament matches.

"I got the win, so I am happy with that," she said. "I wish I would have executed more. There were times that I didn't pull the trigger."

The win at nationals continues Chun's post-Olympic streak. She also won the 105.5-pound title at the world championships in September.

Now, with the win on Thursday, she is one step closer to defending her world title.

"I don't look at it as defending my world title," Chun said. "I look at it as trying to grab it again."

"The World Cup really helped me," Lee said. "I pinned the Olympic gold medalist and that helped me really believe. I knew I had the ability to do great things, but this was just confirming I could do it. It really helped me mentally."

Both train in Colorado Springs.