With his first-period pin of Arturo Mata from Centarus, Whitman claimed the Class 5A Region 3 championship at 189 pounds and became the sixth Impala to qualify for the state championships next weekend at the Pepsi Center.

And if next weekend was to go as well for Whitman and his teammates as this weekend's regionals, one can only imagine the emotion that would ensue.

"Very pleased with this weekend, I thought it turned out a heck of a lot better then I thought it would," Whitman said. "And it's the greatest feeling in the world to pin somebody in the finals. And to do it in the first period, it's just an awesome feeling.

So, yeah, I'm pretty giddy."

For Poudre coach Bart Golyer, the weekend went as he had expected: qualify at least six for the state tournament and finish no lower than fourth in the final team standings, though he would have liked to have to finished in the top two.

Poudre finished fourth in the 16-team tournament with 153 points, behind regional champion Grandview (225), Brighton (206) and Loveland (188).

And as was the case with the team, Golyer was confident his team would make some noise at the state championships.

"It's just a matter of who gets hot at the right time," he said. "And if Derek gets hot, he's got a good shot of placing. As is the case with the other guys."

Joining Whitman at the Pepsi Center will be his wingman at 135 pounds, Mike Despain.

Despain finished in second place despite failing to compete in the championship match because of a series of concussions suffered through out the season and the weekend.

Despain being held out was just a precausion by the coaching staff and himself to prevent any further injury and not dampen his chances for a state championship.

And any chance of not being ready because of the precaution won't be a problem for Despain.

"I am confident that I can get it back for state," he said. "I would rather wrestle in the state finals then the regional finals.

And I'm pretty confident going into next weekend. Pumped up and ready to go."

Other Impalas earning the right to compete next weekend are Anthony Doyle, Bobby Lang, Brandon Doyle and Austin Hodgson.

Anthony Doyle finised in third place at 112 pounds by defeating Jake Wagner of Grandview, 9-4.

The younger Doyle, Brandon, lost his 140-pound championship match to Grandview's Eberle in a major decision, 15-7.

Lang finished in fourth place at 130 after losing his match to Aaron Sack of Brighton, 3-0 and winning his wrestleback against Grandviews C. J. Busby, 7-4.

Hodgson, 145, finished in third after his second-round pin of Brighton's Anthony Lans.