
Dundee's Roberts Retires as 1st to 10 Finals Championships
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
March 9, 2022
Tim Roberts had an awakening.
After winning the Division 3 championship in 2007, his Dundee Vikings lost in three consecutive Finals matches. Each were excruciating losses – 30-27, 33-25 and 24-23.
“We had a good program,” Roberts said. “We were doing well. But there was a period there where we were in the running but not winning. In 2011, I think it was the pinnacle. I realized we had to be different.
“We’d get close every year and lose at the state tournament. Too many times we were close. I knew we had to do something different.”
Not many coaches would have had the guts to change a program that had the success of Dundee, but Roberts wanted something more. The results speak for themselves.
The Vikings recently captured their fifth consecutive Division 3 title and ninth since 2011. The latest championship gave Roberts 10 total. He is the first wrestling coach in state history to win 10 Finals titles.
“We’ve been really fortunate,” said Roberts, who announced at last weekend’s Individual Wrestling Finals that he was retiring after 23 seasons and more than 500 career wins at Dundee. “It’s pretty cool to be the first to 10. There’s a lot of great coaches on that list with a lot of championships. It represents a lot of hard work by a lot of people.”
Roberts went into this Finals weekend tied with another coach from Monroe County, Bill Regnier, with nine championships. Roberts was an assistant at Dundee when Regnier coached his final match for Bedford. He’s a coach that Roberts still holds in high regard.
“He’s the legend,” Roberts said. “In every conversation, every poll, every time you talk about, Bill Regnier is considered the best wrestling coach ever in the state. To be mentioned in the same sentence as him is something special. He really is the legend.”
Hudson’s Scott Marry tied Regnier for second place on the list with his ninth Finals title last weekend. Lowell’s R.J. Boudro won his eighth title. Mike Rodriguez won seven at Detroit Catholic Central and one at River Rouge, and Mitch Hancock has won eight at Detroit Catholic Central.
“I might have been the first to 10, but I won’t be the last,” Roberts said. “There are a lot of great coaches still coaching with a lot of championships. Scott Marry is not done winning state titles. He’ll be at 10 real quick. R.J. has won eight in eight tries.
“I don’t think 10 will stand long.”
Roberts’ run is remarkable, nonetheless. His Vikings won a District title all 23 years he was head coach and have won 30 straight overall. Dundee won its Regional in 22 of his 23 years.
Roberts doesn’t beat around the bush about Dundee’s goals every year. League championships are nice, District and Regional championships help fill up the trophy case. But, for the Vikings, winning the Finals championship is always the goal.
“That sounds arrogant, I know,” Roberts said, “but that’s the way it is. That is the goal every year. In all 23 years I coached, that was the goal.”
Roberts said his changes to the program around 2011 included adding strength training to the Dundee repertoire, and that was when Vikings coaches also started focusing more on the mental approach to the sport.
“After 2011, we hit our stride,” he said.
Roberts gives a lot of credit for the “Viking Way” to others in the program.
“Doing it this way starts long before the varsity level,” he said. “The kids club has to be strong. The middle school program has to be strong. You have to have a coaching staff on the same page and dedicated to all aspects of the team. It’s not one person, not even close.”
Roberts learned under Jim Wittibslager, who led Dundee to four straight Finals championships from 1995-98.
“That put me on a really good path,” Roberts said. “I learned how all of this works. Over time, you keep learning. You figure things out as you go. You have to build relationships with a lot of people because you can’t do this alone, not if you want to sustain success.”
Roberts has won numerous coaching honors, local and state, and was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association Boys Coach of the Year in 2020. The honors are likely to continue after this season. Dundee defeated Alma 55-12 in the Division 3 Final to conclude another dominating season.
Roberts said he had an idea this would be his last coaching the Vikings.
“Coming into this season, I was pretty sure I was going to be done,” he said. “As the season went on, I realized that it would be. This isn’t a decision I took lightly. I’ve pretty much been doing this my whole adult life.”
Roberts said no one should expect Dundee to fall off the mountain. Six Individual Finals placers were underclassmen, and kids from the middle school team to the youth programs won multiple championships.
“There are a lot of good people in place and some good wrestlers coming up,” he said. “The youth club is doing really well. It’s just time. It’s time to let someone else who has the passion and drive to do this take over.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Dundee coach Tim Roberts shows his characteristic celebratory enthusiasm during last weekend’s Individual Wrestling Finals. (Middle) Bill Regnier, here in 2009, built a legendary career at Temperance Bedford. (Below) Roberts holds up his team’s 2020 Division 3 team championship trophy. (Roberts photos by Tom Hawley; Regnier photo courtesy of the Monroe News.)

Corrigan Siblings Carry Success Into Regionals, Celebrate Madalyn's Milestone Win
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 13, 2025
HARRIS — Like sister, like brother.
The wrestling season is winding down for Madalyn and Mitch Corrigan, who are already well into their individual championship pursuits.
Madalyn, a senior, wrestles for Powers North Central, and Mitch is a sophomore grappler at Bark River-Harris.
Despite the rivalry, the two siblings cheer for and support each other.
“We try to motivate each other,” Madalyn said. “I tell him, ‘You can do the same and more.’ If he’s in a good mood, he does the same for me.”
Madalyn earned her 100th career victory by pinning her Norway opponent 86 seconds into the 113-pound match during last week’s Division 4 Team District Final at Bark River-Harris.
Her victory also helped the Jets earn their first District title with a 36-30 triumph over the Knights.
“This is pretty exciting,” she said. “This wasn’t a goal I had in mind, but it means a lot. We’re only in our second year. None of us thought this would be possible so soon. I was depending on my teammates to make weight and win the first match so I could get my 100th. I had 14 victories after my freshman year. It never entered my mind that I would reach 100.”
The Jets also topped BR-H 36-30 in last Thursday’s opener, and Norway edged Iron Mountain 36-35 to advance.
“I knew Maddy really wanted it,” Mitch Corrigan said. “She looked real happy, and I was pretty happy for her. There’s lot of competitiveness at home. Although, I wanted to see her do well even when they wrestled against us.”
Mitch won his match as well, taking a 13-9 decision at 215 pounds.
“One of our kids had to stop wrestling due to family issues,” he said. “I got bumped up a weight class and made sure to keep my hips back. This has been a big learning experience.”
Maddy Corrigan needed just 44 seconds to win by pin in a 120-pound match during the District Semifinal.
“I had a lot of motivation coming into this meet,” she said. “When I put my first foot on the mat, I told myself, ‘All you got.’ I left everything on the mat.”
Mitch Corrigan said he had high hopes going into Saturday’s Individual District at Manistique, where he reached the championship match and dropped a 15-12 decision to Charlevoix sophomore Ryan Glass at 190 but still advanced to this Saturday’s Individual Regional at Charlevoix.
“Maddy and I will be following each other the rest of the way,” Mitch said.
Maddy Corrigan also took runner-up honors in her Individual District at Gaylord, dropping a 4-3 decision to Frankfort junior Isabella Compton in the 115-pound title bout.
North Central’s team run ended Wednesday in Team Regional competition. But she will compete in the Individual Regional on Sunday at Cadillac.
The Individual Finals are set for Feb. 28-March 1 at Ford Field in Detroit.
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Powers North Central’s Maddy Corrigan anticipates the official’s signal for pin during her 100th career victory last week at Bark River-Harris. (Middle) Mitch Corrigan, left, wrestles North Central’s Myles Nehring. (Photos courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)