WPIAL Reveals 2023 Boys’ Tennis Doubles Championships Brackets

Friday, April 21, 2023

Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) announced its brackets for the WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Boys’ Tennis Doubles Championships on Friday afternoon, with a total of 31 student-athlete teams qualifying through section tournaments held on April 18-19.

Student-athletes competed in four different section tournaments in the 3A classifications, and five different section tournaments in the 2A classifications. The top four finishers in the 3A sections earned qualification to the WPIAL Championships, while the top three in the 2A brackets earned qualification.

A total of 15 student-athletes return to the WPIAL Boys’ Tennis Doubles Championships after qualifying in 2022, and five student-athletes will be making their third WPIAL Championships appearance. A pair of doubles teams – Allderdice seniors Deniz Finkel and Ian Kuchera and Greater Latrobe seniors Josh Havrilla and August Lawrence – previously played together in the WPIAL Championships.

The 3A bracket returns three top-four finishers from the past two seasons in Franklin Regional seniors Dhruv Kulkarni (2nd with Prerit Yadav in 2022) and Aaron Allen (3rd with Andrew Allen in 2022), and Peters Township senior David Lusk (4th with Ellian Ascencio in 2021). In 2A last year, North Catholic senior Alex Garvey paired with Brody Golla to win the championship, and Beaver senior Andrew Cavett placed fourth playing with Grady Johnson.

In the 3A section tournaments, Gateway sophomores Adam Memije and Zidaan Hassan (Section I), North Allegheny freshmen Evan Kaufman and Matthew Kampi (Section II), Allderdice seniors Deniz Finkel and Ian Kuchera (Section III), and Upper St. Clair junior Ronan Gibbons and sophomore Ari Plutko (Section IV) emerged as champions. In Section III, Finkel and Kuchera needed three sets to knock off Fox Chapel’s Cooper Friday and Mason Friday (4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5)). The other three sections featured straight set scorelines, with Memije and Hassan defeating Franklin Regional’s Aaron Allen and Dhruv Kulkarni (6-1, 6-3), Kaufman and Kampi winning over teammates Srivatsav Thirumala and Adhav Ramadas (6-4, 7-6(2), and Gibbons and Plutko topping Peters Township’s Avi Sharma and David Lusk (6-3, 6-2).

LINK: 2023 WPIAL 3A Boys’ Tennis Doubles Sectional Tournaments Results

The 2A section champions were Valley senior Nicholas Bussard and sophomore Landon Harclerode (Section I), South Park freshmen Jonah Jasek and Steven Duing (Section II), Hampton juniors Vitaliy Pikalo and Ben LaRusse (Section III), Sewickley Academy sophomore Sebastian Tan and senior Alex Quigley (Section IV), and Quaker Valley juniors Grant Webb and Nick Allan (Section IV). Three section championships went to three sets with Bussard and Harclerode defeating Greater Latrobe’s Josh Havrilla and August Lawrence (6-3, 4-6, 6-4), Pikalo and LaRusse edging out North Catholic’s Alex Garvey and Justin Kontul (6-2, 5-7, 6-3), and Tan and Quigley topping Beaver’s Andrew Cavett and Zach Masters (6-3, 5-7, 6-3). In Section II, Jasek and Duing were 6-2, 6-2 winners over Chartiers Valley’s Liam Pederson and Brendon Hallisey, and Webb and Allan defeated teammates Brahm Gianiodis and Will Watson by a 6-3, 6-3 scoreline.

LINK: 2023 WPIAL 2A Boys’ Tennis Doubles Sectional Tournaments Results

The WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Boys’ Tennis Doubles Championships will be held on April 25-26. The first round through semifinals will be held at both Bethel Park High School and North Allegheny High School (2A only) on April 25, and all finals and consolation finals will be held at Bethel Park on April 26.

The top two finishers in 3A and top four finishers in 2A will qualify for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Boys’ Tennis Doubles Championships, which will be held on May 27-28 at Hershey Racquet Club.

3A CHAMPIONSHIPS [Bracket]
Amount of Qualifying Teams: 16
Top Four Seeds: #1 Adam Memije (10)/Zidaan Hassan (10), Gateway; #2 Deniz Finkel (12)/Ian Kuchera (12), Allderdice; #3 Ronan Gibbons (11)/Air Plutko (10), Upper St. Clair; #4 Evan Kaufman (9)/Matthew Kampi (9), North Allegheny
Qualifying Student-Athlete Teams: Deniz Finkel/Ian Kuchera (Allderdice), Aaron Allen/Dhruv Kulkarni (Franklin Regional), Aditya Arkalgud/Joshua Selvakumar (Franklin Regional), Jack Delaney/Travis Malone (Fox Chapel), Ronan Gibbons/Ari Plutko (Fox Chapel), Adam Memije/Zidaan Hassan (Gateway), Logan Memije/Zack Meshanko (Gateway), Paul Gorun/Nolan McGill (Mt. Lebanon), Evan Kaufman/Matthew Kampi (North Allegheny), Avi Sharman/David Lusk (Peters Township), Ian Hurt/Nathan Bang (Pine-Richland), Ryan Moore/Udi Akolkar (Pine-Richland), Chase Hartman/Sid Ramineni (Shady Side Academy), Ronan Gibbons/Ari Plutko (Upper St. Clair), Daniel Wang/Aadi Markose (Upper St. Clair)
2022 Final: David Mnuskin/Sam Bitzer (Shady Side Academy) def. Prerit Yadav/Dhruv Kulkarni (Franklin Regional), 6-3, 6-3.

2A CHAMPIONSHIPS [Bracket]
Amount of Qualifying Teams: 15
Top Four Seeds: #1 Sebastian Tan (10)/Alex Quigley (12), Sewickley Academy; #2 Vitaliy Pikalo (11)/Ben LaRusse (11), Hampton; #3 Nicholas Bussard (12)/Landon Harclerode (10), Valley; #4 Jonah Jasek (9)/Steven Duing (9), South Park
Qualifying Student-Athlete Teams: Andrew Cavett/Zach Masters (Beaver), Liam Pederson/Brendon Hallisey (Chartiers Valley), Josh Havrilla/August Lawrence (Greater Latrobe), Vitaliy Pikalo/Ben LaRusse (Hampton), Alex Garvey/Justin Kontul (North Catholic), Alex Weber/Justin Garvey (North Catholic), Brahm Gianiodis/Will Watson (Quaker Valley), Grant Webb/Nick Allan (Quaker Valley), Spencer Kryzinski/Jackson Quigley (Sewickley Academy), Sebastian Tan/Alex Quigley (Sewickley Academy), Jonah Jasek/Steven Duing (South Park), Kyle Siler/Rylan Barr (Thomas Jefferson), Nicholas Bussard/Landon Harclerode (Valley), Dylan Gentile/Ethan Harclerode (Valley), Christian Zhu/Mack Jamison (Winchester Thurston)
2022 Final: Brody Golla/Alex Garvey (North Catholic) def. Tim Lakatos/Alex Duing (South Park), 7-6(3), 6-3.

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