HIGH SCHOOL?A member of PrepStar’s Dream Team, ranked as the No. 82 player overall in the nation, despite suffering a season-ending knee injury (ACL and MCL) during the first day of spring drills, had August surgery and never played as a senior for Corona. SuperPrep named him to its All-Far West Team, ranking him as the No. 75 player overall (and the 12th ranked offensive lineman). Rivals.com ranked him as the No. 7 offensive lineman in the nation, and the No. 20 overall prospect in California; Scout.com tabbed him the No. 67 player in the state and the No. 20 guard in the nation. He was still selected to play in the Under Armour All-American game in Orlando. The Tacoma News-Tribune named him to its Western 100 team (one of 20 offensive linemen). As a junior, he was selected to the California All-State Underclass Team and was also named first-team All-State, All-CIF Inland Empire, All-CIF Southern California, All-Riverside County and All-Mountain View League. Named Corona’s best lineman, he racked up 110 pancake blocks on the season and allowed zero sacks. Playing defensive tackle, he recorded 40 tackles and eight quarterback sacks. As a sophomore, he tallied 100 pancakes on the season and allowed just two sacks. His top games as a junior included a 15-pancake block performance in a 53-28 loss to nationally-ranked Centennial. He had 12 pancakes in a 24-23 win against Norco. Under head coach John Brandom, Corona went 8-3 during his junior season, advancing to the first round of the playoffs; his sophomore team went 5-5. He also lettered once in volleyball as a middle blocker (his sophomore season with current Buff and former high school teammate Nate Vaiomounga). He also lettered three times in track as a thrower, making it to the CIF finals in the discus and shot put.
ACADEMICS?He is undecided on his major at Colorado and will enroll in the School of Arts & Sciences. He maintained a 3.0 GPA in high school.
PERSONAL?Born January 6, 1990 in Fountain Valley, Calif. Older brother (Lafu) is a senior offensive lineman at the University of Hawai’i. An uncle (Epenesa "Happy" Epenesa) was a defensive lineman at the University of Iowa (1997-98); a cousin (Pisa Tinoosamoa) is a linebacker for the St. Louis Rams. Another cousin, Joey Flores, was a wide receiver for Colorado State (graduated in ’06). He enjoys spending time with his family, playing pick-up basketball and making (music) beats with his cousins. At the 2007 Long Beach Nike Combine, he made 26 repetitions on the bench press, the second most among offensive linemen and third most overall. He has a personal best of 41 repetitions of 185 pounds. He is also actively involved with his church.
(Last name is pronounced two-E-oh-T)
