Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Tavita Tovio to Represent SIU at Prestigious 2001 Hula Bowl
03/19/2001 | 12:00:00 | Football
December 19, 2000
Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Tavita Tovio was named to the 2001 Rivals.com Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic roster on Tuesday, December 19 by Rivals.com Hula Bowl Chief Executive Officer Leonard Klompus. Tovio will be one of ten Division I-AA athletes invited to play among the 90 athletes selected.
"We're pleased to have a local player with the great success Tavita Tovio has had at Southern Illinois University in his career play in our game," Klompus said. "We expect a great performance and we hope that this will help him further his career as a football player."
The 2001 Rivals.com Hula Bowl will be coached by Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer. The game will feature many of the best football players in the country, including All-American QB Drew Brees (Purdue..3rd in Heisman Trophy voting), WR Reggie Germany (Ohio State), and R.J. Bower (Grove City College..NCAA all-time leading rusher) to name a few. The prestigious all-star game will be televised nationally on Saturday, January 20, on ESPN at 8 p.m. EST.
"This is a great honor for Tavita, Southern Illinois University, the Saluki football program and the community. To be represented in a game with the best college players in the country is special," said Jerry Kill, Southern Illinois head coach. "He's a quality young man, who did everything asked of him at SIU. Tavita will help show people that we have a quality program at Southern Illinois University."
Tovio, a defensive tackle from Honolulu, Hawaii, was named to the 2000 Gateway All-Conference Football First Team recently, making the Gateway Conference All-Conference Team for the fourth consecutive year. He was also named to the Gateway All-Conference Second Team in 1999 as a junior, to the Gateway All-Conference Honorable Mention Team in 1998 as a sophomore, and to the 1997 Gateway All-Conference Honorable Mention and All-Newcomer Teams as a freshman.
Tovio finished the 2000 season with 46 tackles (15 solo, 31 assists), 16 tackles for loss totaling -70 yards, 7 sacks for -54 yards, 2 forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in 11 games.
In his four year career, he racked up 173 tackles (88 solo, 75 assists), 40 tackles for loss totaling -139 yards, 12 sacks for -90 yards, 12 quarterback hurries, 4 fumble recoveries, 3 forced fumbles, 2 pass breakups, and one interception for 9 yards.
Tovio is a 1997 graduate of Honolulu's Farrington High School, where he was First-Team All-State as a senior and Honorable Mention All-State as a sophomore and junior.
