Lahaina’s Finau signs with West Virginia

By ROBERT COLLIAS, Staff Writer

The lasting memory of Tevita Finau on the Valley Isle was when he watched, in tears, as the Maui High School football team’s bus pulled away from the school’s parking lot with the Sabers on their way to their first game of the 2004 season.

Finau was a key member of the Sabers the previous season in both football and for a 28-1 basketball team, but he had decided to transfer to Kahuku for his senior year.

Wednesday, 3 1/2 years removed from the state title he helped the Red Raiders capture with a touchdown catch in the final minute of the championship game, Finau signed a national letter of intent with West Virginia University. Finau’s saga – Lahainaluna for his freshman and sophomore years, to Maui High as a junior, and then Kahuku as a senior – includes last season at Phoenix

(Ariz.) College, where he was a second-team junior college All-American defensive end.

His entry on the West Virginia Web site’s list of signees said he collected 90 tackles, including 58 solo, nine sacks, 20 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and six pass breakups last season. It also said the 6-foot-5, 290-pound defensive end runs a 4.7-second 40-yard dash and bench presses 365 pounds.

But this story includes a winding road before he got to Phoenix College – 1 1/2 years as a cook at Moki’s Hawaiian Barbecue and Grill in Mesa, Ariz., where he worked for an uncle, and a year playing rugby – and a grayshirt season in 2006.

“Chicken katsu is my best dish,’’ Finau said via phone Wednesday. “I have that one down.’’

Finau started school at Phoenix College before he started to play and will have his associate degree in May, leaving him four years to play three at WVU, the Fiesta Bowl championship team that finished ranked sixth in the country in 2007.

“I am actually going to the (signing) ceremony right now,’’ Finau said Wednesday morning. “In the end it came out that I took (official visits) to two places – Colorado and West Virginia. I was going to wait and take the rest of the trips, but in the end it just felt right and I ended up committing to West Virginia.’’

The official visits he left on the table included Florida, Southern Cal and Oklahoma when he committed last week.

Finau said Morgantown, W.Va., caught his eye the moment he got there.

“It was exactly like Hana to me,’’ he said. “Out there in the bushes and trees and then out of nowhere, there is the school. The school is pretty much Morgantown. It kind of looked like Hana when I saw it – nice and green. It was nice out there.’’

Finau credits some of his lifelong friends from Lahaina with helping him buckle down and focus on football in Phoenix. Former Lunas Peni Fiuangaihetau, Semisi Tei, Aki Vakalahi, and Saia Taufa all played their freshman seasons on the same team Finau did in 2007.

“I was blessed to have the coaches and the friends and the family in Phoenix,’’ Finau said. “The Lahainaluna boys, they kind of pushed me. I just had the right people around me at the right time and it was perfect timing.

“I grew up with those guys since we were little kids and it played a real big part, having them here. We all knew what each other could do and we all knew each other’s weaknesses in the classroom, so we all pushed each other to do good. All of those guys will have offers next year.’’

Finau knows that his story is an unusual one, but he had a message for all Maui athletes who may not know what their future holds.

“Just keep working hard, especially when things are hard and it doesn’t seem like it is going to work out,’’ he said. “Put all the time into it and it will pay off like it has for me. It paid off big-time. Stay positive at all times.’’

Other Maui Interscholastic League athletes who signed football letters of intent on Wednesday included Baldwin offensive lineman Sean Tesoro with Nevada-Las Vegas; Bears Dylan Puaa, Kalei Kamahele and Leti Langi with Montana Western, an NAIA school; and their teammates, Skylar Cabacungan and Chansi Bolosan, who signed to go to San Jose (Calif.) City College.

Two other notable Bears, quarterback Jordan Helle and wide receiver Chase Nakamura, did not sign Wednesday and are still studying their options.

Baldwin track athletes Joey Amescua, the 2007 state 800-meter champion, is waiting for the track signing day to sign with USC; and Brittany Feiteira, who won the state 100 as a sophomore, the 400 last year, and has been a member of three state championship 4x100 relay teams, is waiting to do the same with Hawaii.

Another Bear, soccer player Keisha Shishido, will walk on for UH’s Western Athletic Conference championship women’s team.

Other MIL athletes who were honored at a recognition luncheon Wednesday at the Maui Prince Hotel included Kamehameha Maui golfer Kelii Dias, who will go to UH-Hilo; Maui High basketball player Ariel Gaoiran, who will also go to Hilo; Maui High golfers Elyse Okada (Oregon State) and Kelcie Kawano (Cal State-Northridge); Baldwin cheerleaders Sherise Shimabuku (UH) and Nikki Fernandez (UH or Hawaii Pacific); Kamehameha Maui volleyball player Hulali DeLima (BYU-Hawaii); and Michael Jahns of St. Anthony, who inked his baseball letter of intent to Northwestern University in November’s early signing period.

There were several athletes at the luncheon who did not list their final school destinations or announced they will attend Division III schools, which cannot offer athletic scholarships.

Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com