As an eighth grader, Tom Lehman was encouraged to wrestle by his English teacher in order to keep him out of trouble.

This diversion lead to great success for Lehman, whose wrestling abilities helped Owosso High School to win three conference championships. Lehman qualified for the State Class A tournament three years and became a state champion in 1967.

While attending Western Michigan University, Lehman was a starter on the wrestling team for two seasons. During his senior year he placed second in the Mid-American Conference.

In 1972 Lehman began his 37-year career at Thornapple Kellogg High School, where he was a teacher, coach and athletic director.

When he took over as the head coach the wrestling team had never won a match. By 2009, he had recorded a record of 710-234-7, making him one of the country's winningest high school wrestling coaches at the time of his retirement.

Under Lehman's leadership, the TK wrestling team compiled 17 league championships, 13 district championships, nine regional championships, two state runner-up finishes, and a state championship in 1996 when his youngest son, Steve, wrestled for him.

Lehman was voted Michigan Regional Coach of the Year 11 times and Michigan State Coach of the Year four times by his peers. Tom was a finalist for National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2010.

In addition to his high school coaching duties, Lehman served as the head coach for Michigan's USA Wrestling program, coaching five teams to national runners-up, two national championship teams, and numerous individual national champions and All-Americans. He also served as team leader for two international cultural exchange trips to Japan. In 1997, he was voted USA Wrestling Junior Leader of the Year.

Lehman is a member of the Middleville-Thornapple Kellogg Coaches Wall of Fame, the Owosso High School Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Michigan Wrestling Association Hall of Fame, and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Tom was a state champion wrestler at Owosso High School and wrestled in college at Western Michigan University.

In addition to the classroom and wrestling, Tom coached football, cross country, and track and spent summers teaching driver's training. In 2002, Tom was awarded the Commitment Award by the Thornapple Area Enrichment Foundation for his efforts to support youth and the community.