Placer High has already beaten its chief challengers for the Pioneer Valley League’s wrestling title.

Still, Hillmen coach Jess Stiff doesn’t believe his team has its third straight league championship locked up just yet.

The Hillmen defeated Whitney 39-31 Tuesday night at Earl Crabbe Gymnasium, earning their 15th consecutive PVL victory. The dual wasn’t as close as the final score indicates — Placer led 39-19 before forfeiting its final two matches with the victory wrapped up to keep wrestlers healthy.

Whitney was one of two teams that PVL coaches believed had a shot at ending Placer’s run of league crowns. The other was Lincoln, whom the Hillmen (3-0) beat in their PVL opener on Jan. 7.

“We’ve got them under our belts, but we’ve still got to beat the rest of ‘em,” Stiff said. “I don’t overlook anybody.”

Six Hillmen recorded pins in a stretch of eight matches to secure the win for Placer.

Freshman Michael Valdez began the run when he trapped his opponent against the mat with 15.4 seconds remaining in the 121-pound match. Dalton Richardson got a first-round pin of his own two matches later at 132 pounds, and fellow senior Mitchell Maddox made it back-to-back pins when he secured his opponent 40 seconds into the third round at 137.

“Our lower middleweights give us a push at duals,” Stiff said. “Once they get the ball rollin’, it’s hard to stop us.”

Senior Joe Thornton put the finishing moves on his opponent with 32.5 seconds left in the 147-pound match, starting a stretch of three straight pins for Placer. Senior Aaron Maddox, Mitchell’s twin brother, got a second-round pin at 154 pounds, and junior Steven Cox recorded the fastest pin of the night, winning just 58 seconds into the 162-pound match.

Freshman Michael Robinson had the only Placer victory that did not come by pin, beating Whitney’s Sam Burlin 6-3 at 173 pounds.

Whitney took an early lead after Madison Fitzgerald and Justin Martinez won back-to-back matches at 105 and 114 pounds, respectively. After Valdez got Placer’s first pin to tie the score at 6-6, Jordan Achanzar posted a 15-1 decision over Placer senior Andrew Naleway in the 127-pound match to boost the Wildcats’ lead to 10-6.

The consecutive pins by Richardson and Mitchell Maddox put the Hillmen ahead to stay. Not counting forfeits, Whitney got just two more wins the rest of the way, with state tournament qualifier Nazir Razooli pinning Placer senior Carl Pavich with just seconds to go at 142 pounds and Kenny Christian outlasting Hillmen senior Joe Spera 7-4 at 191.

Placer will return to action Thursday night at Bear River.