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Forget the finals, Moffat County High School junior Korey Kostur's biggest worry was the semifinals of the 2005 Colorado State Wrestling Championships.

His worries are over.

"I just wanted to make it to the finals," the 140-pounder said. "My biggest pressure was to win tonight."

Kostur trailed Cañon City's Joe Leyba, 1-0, in the third period of the semifinals. Shortly after the start of the third, he reached out, grabbed a leg and rolled his opponent into a Sanders for the pin.

"I knew I had it as soon as my hands touched," he said. "It was tight."

It took Kostur a couple of seconds to settle into the hold, but 4 minutes, 27 seconds into the match, the mat was pounded.

"I wasn't worried at all," he said. "I just had to wait until the right time for something."

Kostur's patience paid off.

Last year, he came into state with the hope of making the finals. He lost in the semifinals and finished fifth. This year, the second-ranked wrestler prevailed. He will face top-ranked and defending state champion Corey Swanson in the final.

Korey could be the first Kostur to win a state title tonight.

"I have a competition with my brothers," he said. "I can win (the competition) with a title."

If Kostur needs any advice about a final, he can look to his teammate, senior Scott Garoutte. The Moffat County 215-pound senior knows what the finals feel like after winning a state championship as a junior. He moved one match away from becoming Moffat County's third, two-time state champion Friday with two pins. He has yet to wrestle beyond the first period at state this season.

His semifinal match against Windsor's Calen Nicholl finished similar to Kostur's win. Garoutte wrapped his opponent into the Sanders, but he had to make an adjustment.

"Whatever works," he said. "Korey and I have used that move a lot lately. I sort of did a reverse Sanders, and then I had to adjust to a stack."

The semifinal win was Garoutte's longest so far. He spent 1:15 on the mat.

"My mom and my step-dad showed me a picture of my hand being raised here last year before the match," he said. "I watched a couple of my senior teammates lose, and I don't want that feeling. I want to leave with my hand up."

Garoutte will face Rifle's Jeff Zimmerman in the championship tonight. He has defeated Zimmerman twice.

"I'm not going to look past anybody," he said. "It's state, and everybody wrestles well."

A better view

After a disappointing 3-6 start in the first round Thursday, the Bulldogs found a different place to wait out there matches Friday.

They sat in an empty section of the third level of the Pepsi Center. Usually, they sit in the lower level right above the Class 4A mats.

"We needed to be able to focus and think by ourselves," Garoutte said. "There was nobody around."

It must have worked.

The Bulldogs entered the day in 15th place, but after going through the quarterfinal round with a 7-2 record, they improved 10 spots to fifth place.

In the semifinal round, Moffat finished 6-2.

Daniel Cramblett trailed most of his match against Isaac Colon of Harrison. He reversed Colon and put him to his back in the final seconds of the third period for a 9-8 win.

Eric Fredrickson is one win away from his second state medal after he defeated Robert Martz of Liberty, 12-5.

Senior heavyweight Kyle Fredrickson finished the night of with a bang, actually more with a flop. He trailed Berthoud's Trevor Wikre by two with 25 seconds remaining when he pancaked Wikre to the mat for a pin.

"What a way to finish the night for us," coach Roman Gutierrez said. "Maybe they should sit up there by themselves again tomorrow. Everybody today wrestled well when we could have hung it up."

With an overall record of 13-4, the Bulldogs finished the day in fourth place with 68.5 points. They are two points behind Alamosa for third. Broomfield is in second with 83, and Pueblo South leads with 98.5.

The consolation rounds start for 4A/5A today at 12:30. The finals will begin around 6 p.m.

The future

Sophomores Brice Boling and Chris McAlexander, part of Moffat County's wrestling future, earned more than just state experience Friday. Both of them earned a state win with pins. Boling won both of his consolation matches by pin, while McAlexander pinned Wesley Parker of Ridgeview Academy in the first round before finishing his state debut with a loss to fifth-ranked Tommy Valdez of Alamosa.

"Things are a lot faster and more intense at state," said Boling, who sits one win away from a medal. "This gives me confidence to get two pins. I just need to make sure my mistakes are at a very minimum."

Seniors finished

The Bulldogs' only loss came from Senior Brent Chamberlain. His career came to a close with a 15-7 loss to Pueblo South's Manual Miera. Chamberlain finished fifth last year but struggled with a knee and shoulder injury at the end of the season. Senior Shayne Zimmerman earned his first career state win with a 17-1 technical fall against Niwot's Josh Riley. Zimmerman's tournament was ended by a 15-8 loss to Palisade's Tyler Barnes.

Coach honored

Ron Linsacum was awarded his 20-year patch from the Colorado State High School Activities Association before the semifinals Friday night. The Moffat County assistant coach was honored for 20 years of service at Moffat County High School. He has coached football and wrestling.