Chip Dunn graduated from Lowell High School and then Boston State College, where he played football and lacrosse, and was highly influenced by Coach Mac Singleton. Chip's first coaching experience was at Chelmsford High School, as an assistant football coach under legendary coach Tommy Caito. When football season ended, Bruce Rich, Chelmsford's head wrestling coach, recruited Dunn to coach the freshman wrestling team. Chip had never wrestled before - except in George Bossi's gym class - but he quickly learned the sport and its many techniques under the watchful eye of Coach Rich. Dunn continued in this role for seven years, learning the sport's nuances and developing his own coaching style.

In 1986, Haverhill High School's athletic director, John Ottaviani, offered Chip a job as the Hillies' head wrestling coach. Dunn was faced with the challenge of turning a program on the brink of elimination into a contender within the rugged Merrimack Valley Conference. Over the next twenty years, Coach Dunn did just that. Chip created a strong booster club and established the Haverhill Wrestling Hall of Fame to support the wrestling program. Through persistence, a love of the sport, and a genuine belief in kids, Dunn built Haverhill into a highly respected wrestling program. Coach Dunn was pleased to have had help throughout his tenure from assistant coaches Ted DiBurro, Brendan Parker, Chris Bernier, Brett Legault, and Steve Mirasolo. During this time, Chip was instrumental in establishing a middle school program that became a potent feeder system for Haverhill wrestlers. Coach Dunn also founded and directed an annual wrestling tournament that became a very successful and popular "tournament of choice" for many local high school teams.

In 2006, when Chip retired from the Haverhill head coaching position, he was quickly sought out by Rich Gorham, the head wrestling coach at Phillips Academy Andover. Dunn was a welcome addition to the Phillips Andover coaching staff, of which he is still a valuable member. According to Coach Gorham, "having Chip on my staff has been the best professional development I've ever had as a coach."

Throughout his 36 years as a wrestling coach, Chip forged strong friendships with wrestlers, coaches, officials, and fans. Dunn's quick wit and sharp tongue accompanied a fierce competitiveness that helped him develop countless individual league, sectional, state, and New England place winners and champions while building numerous championship teams. His teams won two state-wide sportsmanship awards, and Chip was twice selected as sectional coach of the year. In 1992, Dunn was named the Boston Globe Coach of the Year and Massachusetts Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). In recognition of Chip's contributions to wrestling, Dunn was inducted into the Haverhill High School Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Wrestling Coaches Association (MIWCA) Hall of Fame.

Dunn has been teaching physical education and coaching three high school sports for the past thirty years. In addition to his storied wrestling career, Chip has taught physical education in Haverhill and coached baseball (Haverhill and Chelmsford) and football (Haverhill, Chelmsford, Amesbury, Whittier Tech and Phillips Academy). Not one to be idle, Coach Dunn has also been an active member of the MIWCA executive board, serving on the ethics committee and acting as a sectional representative for many years.

Chip Dunn was known to be a demanding wrestling coach, especially during those brutal "money in the bank" training sessions. However, Chip's wrestlers learned to appreciate the value of those conditioning sessions, especially when the third period of a match was at hand and they had the stamina to finish the match strongly. With a lot of hard work from his wrestlers complementing Dunn's hard-nosed, disciplined style of coaching, Chip amassed 258 wins as Haverhill's wrestling coach. While Chip's coaching style often seemed rough and uncompromising, many of his wrestlers experienced the personal and compassionate side of Coach Dunn. To this day, they realize that Chip was concerned about them as both individuals and athletes. To Dunn, wrestling offers youngsters a path of self-discipline that will develop them into contributing citizens and community leaders. After graduation, many of his former wrestlers returned as volunteer coaches, encouraging younger wrestlers to follow in their footsteps. It is a tribute to Chip that these men wanted to give back some of what Dunn, as their coach, had given them.

Chip is honored to be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He is grateful to the two most important people in his life, who helped make his induction possible: Cheryl, his wife of 31 years, and Jill, his daughter. They have always been there for Chip and have always understood and accepted the commitment and dedication required to be an effective high school coach.

In recognition of his many years of service to the sport of wrestling as a coach and mentor, the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is honoring Chip Dunn with its award for Lifetime Service to Wrestling.