Manchester's Tobias Starts Recent Run of 4-Time Individual Finals Champs
By
John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director emeritus
February 26, 2025
The MHSAA Wrestling Tournament began in 1948. In the first 52 years of the tournament only six grapplers had achieved the ultimate – winning four individual titles. And the first to achieve that – Mike Mills of Mt. Pleasant – didn’t do it until 1979. Before that, there had only been nine three-time champs.
Flip the page to 2000 and a run of four-peat masters has occurred, and heading into the 2025 MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals this week, we celebrate here the 25th anniversary of the first of that group – Jeremiah Tobias of Manchester High School.
Tobias is the leader of a group of 30 wrestlers have captured four titles in their careers over the past 25 years. A career sweep has been claimed by at least one wrestler in each season since 2017, with 16 four-timers during that span. Two three-time champs – Jackson Blum of Lowell (Div. 2-132 pounds) and Sebastian Martinez of Riverview Gabriel Richard (Div. 4 at 175 pounds) — stand at the fore to join the club this year.
Tobias captured his fourth title in impressive style at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, pinning his four opponents in a stunningly-low combined time of 3:30 – an average of 52 seconds per match. Since then, only Derek Saari of Escanaba has spent less time in Finals combat with four pins at 2:58 (44.5 second average) to win the Upper Peninsula title at 119 pounds in 2007.
Over the last 25 years, 30 wrestlers on 32 occasions have pinned their four opponents en route to the title in the boys Finals – and since the girls division started in 2022, it’s happened nine times in those brackets. Achieving four-pin Finals titles twice were Zach Perrin of Corunna in 2005 and 2006 and Ira Jenkins of Whitehall in 2021 and 2022.
For Tobias, his championships came at 125, 130, 135 and 145 pounds. He finished his career with a 182-3 record, not losing a match after the District Final of his freshman year – a loss he avenged during the following weeks’ Regional and Final tournaments. He rang up a winning streak of 144 matches and did not have an opponent score a takedown on him over his last three seasons. Only a football injury his junior year, which caused him to miss 31 bouts, prevented him from compiling even more impressive numbers.
Following his final match to clinch the fourth title, a pin in 1:12 which brought the crowd at The Joe to a standing ovation, Tobias told The Detroit News, “I’m speechless. I knew this was the last match of my high school career and I wanted to make the most of it. This is the way I wanted to be remembered by.”
He went on to the University of Michigan and posted an 82-21 record in a reserve role from 2001-05 – pinning 57 of his opponents, which is still a school record. Seventeen of those pins came as a sophomore, another school record. He was honored three times with the Bill Shaw Award – recognizing the team’s top 11th man.
Tobias entered the college coaching ranks following graduation, which included 10 years at Alma College – five as its head coach. He is currently a fitness teacher at St. Mary’s School in Alma and remains active in youth wrestling circles.
FOX Sports Detroit featured Tobias during its coverage of the 2000 Individual Wrestling Finals, and we have video of that feature and his championship match with Jeremy Windsor of Fulton for your enjoyment. (His match follows the interview at 1:07.)
PHOTO Manchester's Jeremiah Tobias celebrates his fourth championship at the 2000 Individual Wrestling Finals.
D3 Final: Richmond Gets Richer
February 25, 2012
BATTLE CREEK – Nick Burg stepped on the mat for the biggest match of his life Saturday. He was shaking.
The state’s biggest wrestling stage wasn’t lost on the Richmond sophomore. Nor the fact his team was losing by a point and only two matches from seeing its two-year MHSAA championship streak broken.
“That’s what I’ve been training for my whole life. … I was a little nervous. I’m not going to lie,” Burg said. “I just knew I had to go out there and win. That’s what they said. We need you to win. Bonus points are extra.
"But first, get the win.”
He accomplished both – and in doing so set in motion the final touches of a 34-23 win over Dundee that continued Richmond’s dominance of Division 3 with a third straight title.
In what ended up the last to be decided of Saturday’s Finals at Kellogg Arena, No. 2-seeded Dundee won six of seven bouts through the middle of the match to take a 23-18 lead with three weights remaining.
Top-seeded Richmond’s chances still looked good. The Blue Devils (29-5) finished with three Individual Finals qualifiers against three Dundee wrestlers who will not compete next week at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
But freshman Austin Vannatter, Burg and senior Stephen Ireland still had to come through.
Vannatter pulled the Blue Devils within a point with a major decision in 112. And Burg then got back the lead with a pin in 1 minute, 28 seconds. Ireland merely needed to avoid a pin or technical fall, but finished with a pin himself.
“These kids have all been together since sixth grade, and they’re just gritty and tough,” Richmond co-coach Brandon Day said. “A lot of our state titles have been like this, 11 points or less, because the kids just fight for each other.
“Dundee’s a great program. They’re awesome, and Tim Roberts is a great coach. That’s why this isn’t the last time this is going to happen. They’ll be back, and we’ll be back.”
Dundee finished 17-8. Since winning its most recent MHSAA championship in 2007, the Vikings have finished runners-up four of the last five seasons.
Click for match-by-match results from the Final, Semifinals and Quarterfinals. See more photos at High School Sports Scene.