Aragon’s Tonga chooses BYU (choices, choice, God, Mormon)

[Bishka]

In the end, Aragon High’s Matangi Tonga relied on his heart, along with a bit of divine intervention.



As a result, the next stop for one of the greatest athletes in Aragon history will be Provo, Utah. The Daily Journal learned that Tonga verbally committed to Brigham Young University last night on a football scholarship. Tonga will sign his official letter-of-intent on Wednesday.

“I think I feel more relieved than anything else,” Tonga said. “It was a very tough decision. I was uptight and tense during the whole decision process, and at first I didn’t know where to go.”

Tonga narrowed his choices down to Oregon and BYU, and he said it was fate that pulled him to BYU. The 6 foot 2, 260 pounder took an official visit to BYU on the first weekend of January and came away mesmerized with the family atmosphere of the football team, as well as the sprawling, state-of-the-art facilities. However, Tonga wanted badly to take a visit to Oregon, but that never materialized. On Jan. 14, he went to San Francisco International Airport for the trip to Eugene, only to learn his seat was given away. A week later, he went to SFO, but never got a boarding pass due to some mixup. Tonga never received an explanation for his troubles, and he took it as a sign that Provo was the place where his heart would go on. “I’m a religious guy anyway, and I thought there were signs that God was telling me to go to BYU,” said Tonga, a devout Mormon. “On my visit, my family and I had a 1-on-1 with (head) coach Bronco Mendenhall, and we really like his character and how he made us feel at home.”



Tonga rushed for 837 yards and 20 touchdowns while recording 11 sacks and 19 tackles for losses this past season. He’s also a standout center on the basketball team, and finished second in the shot put last year in the Peninsula Athletic League track and field championships. Ultimately, Tonga couldn’t pass on a chance to play with his older brother and role model, Manase, a 2002 Aragon graduate. Matangi relied on the advice of his loved ones — his parents, his girlfriend and Manase — along with Aragon football coach Steve Sell before making his decision. “Coach Sell told me to go where I was most wanted,” Tonga said. “My brother said the same thing. I could really feel that BYU really wanted me. It’s going to be great because I was in the eighth grade when my brother was a senior, so we’re going to be able to play together for the first time. I grew up watching him and he took me under his wings. This is a small way of paying him back.”
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