2023 USA Wrestling Women’s Freestyle Awards: Amit Elor (Wrestler), Clarissa Chun (Coach)

USA Wrestling announced its 2023 Athlete and Coach of the Year award winners during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling at Penn State, April 19-20. We will post the winners of these awards this week, one day for each Olympic discipline. We started Wednesday with our Greco-Roman award winners, and today we post the women’s freestyle award winners, with men’s freestyle coming on Friday.

Amit Elor named 2023 USA Wrestling Women’s Wrestler of the Year

Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif. /Titan Mercury WC/New York City RTC) has been named the 2023 Women's Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the second straight year that she has won this prestigious award.

Elor won her second straight Senior World Championships in women’s freestyle, claiming the 72 kg gold medal in Belgrade, Serbia. Also for the second straight year, Elor won three total UWW World Championships gold medals, also adding the 2023 U20 World title in Amman, Jordan and a U23 World title in Tirana, Albania. She is the first from any nation in any discipline to win three UWW World titles two years in a row.

Her World Championships gold-medal run began at the U20 Worlds in August, where she defeated Buekranaz Sert of Turkey in the finals. Next was the Senior Worlds in September, where she stopped Davaansan Enkhamr of Mongolia in the finals. She completed her domination with her final World gold medal at the U23 World Championships in October, where she beat Jyoti Berwal of UWW/India team in the championship match.

This follows her run through the field in 2002, winning the 2022 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, the 2022 U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain and the 2022 U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, all at 72 kg. In 2022, she became the youngest U.S. Senior World champion in history in any Olympic discipline.

Domestically in 2023, Elor won her U20 World Team spot at the U20 Nationals in Spokane, Wash. in April. She secured her Senior World Team berth at Final X in Newark, N.J. She qualified for the U.S. U23 World Team based upon her finish at Final X.

In 2021, Elor won two World titles, a U20 World title and a U17 World title. Her sixth career UWW World title came at the 2019 U17 Beach World Championships. Elor was third in the 2019 U17 World Championships. She was also a 2015 U15 Pan American champion. A native of Walnut Creek, Calif., she won a 2019 California state title for College Park High School as a freshman, and since then has focused on freestyle wrestling.

PAST WOMEN'S WRESTLER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS

2023 – Amit Elor, Colorado Springs, Colo., Titan Mercury WC, New York City RTC

2022 – Amit Elor, Walnut Creek, Calif.,Titan Mercury WC, New York City RTC

2021 — Tamyra Mensah-Stock, Colorado Springs, Colo., Titan Mercury WC

2020 — No award (COVID-19)

2019 — Tamyra Mensah-Stock, Colorado Springs, Colo., Titan Mercury WC

2018 — Sarah Hildebrandt, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC/OTC

2017 — Tamyra Mensah-Stock, Colorado Springs, Colo., Titan Mercury WC

2016 — Helen Maroulis, New York, N.Y., Sunkist Kids

2015 — Adeline Gray, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC

2014 — Adeline Gray, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC

2013 — Alyssa Lampe, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunkist Kids

2012 — Clarissa Chun, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunkist Kids

2011 — Ali Bernard, New Ulm, Minn., Gator WC

2010 — Elena Pirozhkova, Colorado Springs, Colo., Gator WC

2009 — Deanna Rix, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC

2008 — Randi Miller, Colorado Springs, Colo., Gator WC

2007 — Kristie Marano, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC

2006 — Kristie Marano, Colorado Springs, Colo., New York AC

2005 — Iris Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. Army

2004 — Sara McMann, Lock Haven, Pa., Sunkist Kids

2003 — Patricia Miranda, Colorado Springs, Colo., Dave Schultz WC

2002 — Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA

2001 — Toccara Montgomery, Cleveland, Ohio, Sunkist Kids

2000 — Kristie Marano, Albany, N.Y., ATWA

1999 — Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

1998 — Kristie Stenglein, Albany, N.Y., ATWA

1997 — Sandra Bacher, San Jose, Calif., Dave Schultz WC

1996 — Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

1995 — Vickie Zummo, Hamburg, N.J., New York AC

1994 — Shannon Williams, Ontario, Calif., Sunkist Kids

1993 — Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

Clarissa Chun named 2023 USA Wrestling Women’s Coach of the Year

Clarissa Chun (Iowa City, Iowa/ Iowa Women’s WC) has been named the 2023 Women’s Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that Chun has received this award.

Chun is the head coach of the University of Iowa’s varsity women’s wrestling program. Iowa is the first NCAA Div. I Power Conference program to add women’s wrestling. During the 2022-23 college season, Iowa did not field an official team, with the athletes in the program competing in open tournaments and at USA Wrestling Senior and age-group events.

Iowa wrestler Kylie Welker earned a spot on the 2023-24 Senior Women’s National Team, placing third at 76 kg on the Senior ladder. Iowa wrestler Nyla Valencia earned a spot on the 2023 U23 World Team at 50 kg.

In its first major tournament of the 2023-24 college varsity season, Iowa dominated the Missouri Valley Open, November 17-18, 2023, considered the toughest of the women’s college opens. Medalists for the Hawkeyes were Sterling Dias (gold, 101), Brianna Gonzalez (gold, 116), Felicity Taylor (gold, 123), Esther Han (gold, 136), Reese Larramendy (gold, 143), Kylie Welker (gold, 170), Samantha Caulkins (gold, 235), Emily Gonzalez (silver, 101), Ava Bayless (silver, 109), Alivia White (silver, 191) and Haley Ward (bronze, 170).

She is also coach of the new Iowa Women’s WC, which competes in major national and international events on the USA Wrestling circuit.

Prior to Iowa, Chun served as an Assistant National Women’s Coach for USA Wrestling, helping coach the Women’s National Team from 2017-2021. As part of Terry Steiner’s National Women’s Coaching staff, Chun helped lead the USA to 17 Senior World medals and four Olympic medals.

As an athlete, Chun was one of the best women’s freestyle wrestlers in history and has been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, and also placed fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She was a 2008 Senior World champion, and also competed on four other U.S. Senior World Teams.

Chun competed on the trailblazing Missouri Valley College women’s varsity team, one of the first women’s teams in college history. After college, she became a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, she was the first state high school champion in women’s wrestling in Hawaii history, competing for Roosevelt High School.

PAST WOMEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS

2023 – Clarissa Chun, Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa Women’s WC

2022 – Nate Engel, Corvallis, Ore., Beaver Dam RTC

2021 – Nate Engel, Corvallis, Ore., Beaver Dam RTC

2020 — No award  (COVID-19)

2019 - Vladislav "Izzy" Izboinikov, Colorado Springs, Colo., Titan Mercury WC

2018 - Troy Steiner, Fresno, Calif., Valley RTC

2017 – John Smith, Stillwater, Okla. and Cary Kolat, Buies Creek, N.C.

2016 – Valentin Kalika, New York, N.Y., Titan Mercury WC

2015 – Aaron Sieracki, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army WCAP

2014 – Afsoon Johnston, San Diego, Calif.

2013 – Archie Randall, Mustang, Okla., OKCU Gator Women’s RTC

2012 – Vladislav “Izzy” Izboinikov, Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Wrestling

2011 – Kevin Black, River Falls, Wis., New York AC

2010 – Keith Wilson, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunkist Kids

2009 – Kevin Black, River Falls, Wis., New York AC

2008 - Tadaaki Hatta, Elyria, Ohio, New York AC

2007 - Troy Steiner, Corvallis, Ore.

2006 - Joe Corso, Metairie, La., Gator WC

2005 - Bill Scherr, Glenview, Ill., Sunkist Kids

2004 - Tricia Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

2003 - Townsend Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids

2002 - Joe Corso, Des Moines, Iowa, Sunkist Kids