Underclassmen stepped up their performance and seasoned wrestlers continued to deliver for Paly in its win over rival Gunn on Thursday.

Freshmen John Mitchell and Patrick Sheehan both posted wins, 12-9 and 6-3 respectively, and sophomore Kasey Fields pinned his opponent, to help their squad tally a win in the highly touted Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL).

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Mitchell said, who wrestled in his first ever Paly-Gunn meet. “I tried to stay low, shoot, stay strong and keep pressure throughout the match.”

Fields’ opponent was Gunn’s Dylan Gorman, who filled in for standout junior Kiyoshi Kawano. Kawano is the second ranked wrestler for his weight class in the Central Coast Section (CCS) behind Gilroy’s Nicolo Naranjo, ranked third in all of California.

The marquee match up of the night was at 189 pounds, where Paly’s second ranked John Hall faced off with Gunn senior Nadav Perl, ranked eighth. The junior left little doubt that he was deserving of his higher ranking, and scored six points with a decisive pin.

At 152 pounds, senior co-captain Amir Shahhosseini, ranked sixth in CCS, took less than one period to pin Gunn’s Phillip Hsiao. At 275 pounds, burly junior Uly Morales also pinned his opponent Alex Zeglin within the first period.

“The whole team did a good job tonight,” Shahhosseini said. “We knew it was a big match and we were in better shape.”

“It was revenge for last year,” he added, referring to the, 38-28, loss Gunn handed Paly during last year’s grudge match.

The Vikings next visit powerhouse Fremont, the third ranked team in California, on Jan. 30.