Nick Navratil can't help but be proud of what he has done. As the only unbeaten wrestler in the Class 4A state wrestling tournament, he has a souvenir to remember.

"To look at the undefeated wrestlers in 4A (in the program) and all you see is my name - it's sick," he said. "But I've put a lot of hours and a lot of hard work into that."

The Moffat County senior hopes for an even better souvenir, though, in the form of a first- place medal in the 189-pound weight class.

To get it tonight, he will have to beat Sonny Yohn of Alamosa, a two-time state champion who is ranked No. 2 in the nation. Yohn (41-1) will wrestle for the University of Minnesota next year.

Both wrestlers made it through the semifinals Friday night. Navratil (43-0) beat Josh Larson of Windsor 2-1. Yohn won by technical fall against Thompson Valley's Mike Dellatto.

Navratil doesn't back down from the matchup, which will be the most anticipated championship match in 4A.

"I've been hoping it would be me and him in the championship," he said. "I want a showdown."

When a wrestler puts together a résumé like Yohn's, his reputation precedes him. That was the case when Navratil first faced Yohn in a national tournament two years ago.

"I lost to him at nationals before, but it was a psychological game with myself," said Navratil, who finished fifth at state last year.

"I think it will be different this time. I'm mentally prepared now. I've worked my butt off all summer, mentally and physically."

Alamosa has a comfortable lead in the 4A team race. The Mean Moose will send four to the championship round, including Yohn and his brother Cody at 160 pounds.

Northridge and Pueblo West each have three wrestlers in the finals.

Mullen's Seamus Waples put away a familiar opponent to reach the championship match at 152.

Waples trailed Joey Gomez of Golden 7-6 in the third period, but he took Gomez down with 1 minute, 4 seconds remaining to win 8-7. "I finish matches well," Waples said after celebrating with his coaches.

"I've wrestled him a lot in freestyle practice, but never in a match. It's tough to wrestle a familiar opponent, but it was just as tough for him."

Waples finished sixth at state last year. He will face Rifle's Tim Long (32-4) for the title.

"It feels pretty good, but I'm not done yet," Waples said.

The 112-pound semifinal between Fort Lupton's Dale Shull and Broomfield's Gabe Gomez was a rematch of the 103 state championship last year, won by Shull.

He won this one as well, 3-1, to reach the championship again.

"I was nervous all week when I found out he was on my side of the bracket," Shull said.

Shull will face Pueblo West's Victor Sanchez in the final. The two are friends who wrestled together at a Western State camp. Sanchez finished fifth last year at 112 after placing second as a sophomore at 103.

Two Cañon City wrestlers, Kraig Reiter at 189 pounds and Rico Garcia at 215 pounds, missed weigh-in Friday morning, eliminating them from the quarterfinals.

They were the only two Cañon City wrestlers at state this year.

Class 4A championships

• 103: Jesse Meis, Alamosa, Jr. (42-1) vs. Casey Lynn, Montezuma-Cortez, Fr. (32-2)

• 112: Victor Sanchez, Pueblo West, Sr. (26-1) vs. Dale Shull, Fort Lupton, So. (35-2)

• 119: Jeremy Aguero, Pueblo South, So. (33-7) vs. Duell Kelly, Alamosa, Jr. (35-8)

• 125: Jake Breslin, Moffat County, Sr. (27-5) vs. Jordan Garcia, Pueblo West, So. (35-9)

• 130: Saul Guerrero, Fort Lupton, Jr. (36-3) vs. Samuel Soto, Fort Morgan, Jr. (37-4)

• 135: Chris Martinez, Mountain View, So. (31-14) vs. Justin Gonzales, Northridge, So. (36-3)

• 140: Cory Casady, Broomfield, Jr. (39-4) vs. Matt Basquez, Pueblo East, Sr. (35-6)

• 145: Justin Keys, Pueblo East, Sr. (42-3) vs. Austin Stubaus, Cheyenne Mountain, Sr. (35-5)

• 152: Seamus Waples, Mullen, Sr. (38-1) vs. Tim Long, Rifle, Sr. (32-4)

• 160: Cody Yohn, Alamosa, Jr. (40-1) vs. Patrick Gomez, Northridge, So. (34-3)

• 171: Brice Wolf, Greeley Central, So. (41-2) vs. Mike Ross, Pueblo West, Jr. (40-2)

• 189: Nick Navratil, Moffat County, Sr. (43-0) vs. Sonny Yohn, Alamosa, Sr. (41-1)

• 215: Justin Waterman, Greeley West, Jr. (35-1) vs. David Marone, Broomfield, Sr. (40-1)

• 285: Kyle Graulus, Fort Morgan, Jr. (34-8) vs. Tim Saucedo, Northridge, Jr. (31-3)

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