During the holiday break, Saint Louis School junior offensive lineman Ana Tuiasosopo Jr. trained religiously for the U.S. Army National Combine last Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. But when it came to the bench press test he got a pleasant surprise.

After training with 225 pounds, working up to 33 repetitions, the test turned out to be for only 185 pounds. Tuiasosopo then shattered the combine record of 34 repetitions with a jaw-dropping 48. He was presented a trophy for being the strongest athlete at the combine.

"When I found out it was not as much weight, I felt confident when it came my turn to bench," said Tuiasosopo, who wasn't aware that high school athletes test at 185 pounds and that 225 is the standard at NFL combines.

Tuiasosopo was among 11 players from Hawai'i who attended the event, which was held in conjunction with the U.S. Army All-American Bowl over the weekend at the Alamodome. (Kahuku defensive lineman Joe Faifili, who has since moved to Utah, made his verbal commitment to Utah on national TV as Hawai'i's only representative in the game.) Other Hawai'i players who attended the combine, which was for underclassmen, were: Radford's Kyle Blair, Justin Lord and Travis Daniels; Campbell's Matthew Masafili; Kahuku's Kaniela Tuipulotu, Joseph Heimuli, Shiloah Te'o, Pita Tanuvasa and George Tafuna; and Farrington's Sam Fehoko.

But it wasn't just his strength that earned him praise. At 5 feet 10 and 290 pounds, Tuiasosopo held his own in one-on-one and 3-on-2 (three blockers to two defensive linemen) drills against bigger players. The "smallest" player he faced was 6-3, 320, and he was placed against a player who was 6-8.

"I wanted to show that it doesn't matter what your height is," he said. "It's your heart."

Tuiasosopo's goal was simple at the combine.

"I wanted to try to break the bench press record and impress the scouts over there," the 16-year-old Tuiasosopo said.

He accomplished both. Coaches from Oklahoma, Michigan and North Carolina approached Tuiasosopo's parents. Tuiasosopo also received an invitation to a NIKE camp at USC in April that he plans to attend.

If the name sounds familiar, his father, Ana Tuiasosopo, is a Damien graduate who played for Hawai'i (1983 to 1985) and signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.