Chrissy Chow ’11 Fujimoto mastered the art of winning on the mat during her athletic career at Punahou. Her experience, leadership and relentless drive allowed her to build one of the most dominant high school grappling careers ever seen in Hawai‘i.
Growing up in a family of judoka, Fujimoto was introduced to the sport at a young age, training at the family dojo Hawai‘i Tenri and traveling internationally to participate in tournaments. By the time she began competing for Punahou’s varsity judo team as a freshman in 2008, she was already an intimidating foe with a track record of success. Fujimoto never lost a match in her four years of high school judo.
Fujimoto was introduced to wrestling through the Punahou Pumas club when she was in third grade, modelling her older brother Daniel ’08 who was already a Pumas regular. Her mastery of judo fundamentals from competing in hundreds of matches gave her the body awareness, position and balance to excel in wrestling.
Of the eight state tournaments Fujimoto contested across both sports as a varsity athlete, she won seven individual championships and contributed to six team titles – three each in judo and wrestling.
Her sole loss in any state tournament was by just one point in the 2009 114-pound state wrestling final her sophomore year. Fujimoto avenged the defeat when she faced the same opponent in the 2010 championship match, this time at 125 pounds. Fujimoto pulled off a stunning two-point reversal with less than ten seconds left, winning the match.
Fujimoto competed at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Judo Team Trials and at the Fargo Wrestling Nationals twice, placing fourth in 2009 and sharing the championship with her sister Mindy ’12 in 2010.
Fujimoto was inducted into the HHSAA Hall of Honor in 2011. Following Punahou, she attended Westmont College in California, and today lives on O‘ahu, where she is raising two children with her husband and teaching kindergarten.