University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

2021:

• Played 10 games with eight starts on the defensive line.
• Had 14 tackles including four tackles-for-loss, a sack, and two passes defended.
• Also recorded an interception against Portland State.
• Contributed in an upset win over nationally-ranked Fresno State with a season-high three tackles, including a sack.
• Missed the last three games of the season due to injury.

Prior to UH:

• Played four seasons at the University of Utah.
• Appeared in 36 games for the Utes, amassing 40 tackles and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
• Part of a Utah program that went to four bowl games and won 36 games in a four-year span.
• Most impactful season came in 2018 when he started six games on the defensive line for a squad that captured the Pac-12 South and advanced the Pac-12 title game.
• Had 3.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks and an interception that season.
• Named to the Pac-12 All-Academic first team.

Prep:

• A 2014 graduate of Highland High School in Utah.
• Second-team all-state as a senior in 2013 
• Had 55 tackles with 17.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks that season.
• Named a team captain.
• Also lettered in basketball and track and field.
• Following high school, served a two-year church mission in Lima, Peru.

Personal:

• Born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Nickname is “Bubba.”
• Earned a degree in family consumer studies at Utah.
• Has two younger sisters and one younger brother. 
• Has a wife, Telisa, and a son, Pita. 
• Father, Pita, Sr., played linebacker for Utah while his mother, Susana, was an All-Western Athletic Conference basketball player for the Utes.
• Parents are Pita and Susana Tonga of Taylorsville, Utah.