Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) unveiled its brackets for the WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Boys’ Tennis Singles Championships on Friday, April 4, 2025, with 32 talented student-athletes qualifying through section tournaments held on April 2-3. This year’s tournament promises to showcase fierce competition, as participants from four different sections in both Class 2A and Class 3A vie for the coveted titles.
The Class 3A field is particularly impressive, featuring six past medalists, including reigning champions Advaita Sircar from North Allegheny and Severin Harmon from Sewickley Academy, who won the Class 2A title last year. Gateway seniors Adam Memije and Zidaan Hassan secured second and third places in 2024, with Hassan also having claimed a bronze medal in 2023. Harmon, who earned silver in Class 2A in 2023, will be looking to add to his accolades this year. Upper St. Clair senior Ari Plutko rounds out the top finishers, having finished fourth in the 2024 singles tournament.
In the Class 2A bracket, Montour senior John Rohrkaste and South Park junior Jonah Jasek are the only returning medalists. Jasek previously took home the bronze in last year’s championships, while Rohrkaste placed fourth in the 2023 edition. This year’s tournament will see eight returning qualifiers in the Class 3A bracket, including the aforementioned medalists alongside Franklin Regional sophomore Colin Stalnaker and Shady Side Academy senior Sai Chaudry. Additionally, Class 2A will feature eight returning qualifiers, with Jasek and Rohrkaste joined by Blackhawk junior Ben Crefeld, Indiana senior Gabe Nettleton, Mt. Pleasant senior Aydan Gross, North Catholic junior Justin Garvey, South Park junior Steven Duing, and Valley senior Landon Harclerode.
Notably, Class 3A saw three reigning section champions defend their titles: Memije (Section I), Plutko (Section IV), and Sircar (Section II), while Chaudhry captured the win in Section II. In Class 2A, Harclerode defended his Section I crown, with Crefeld taking Section IV, Garvey winning Section III, and Belle Vernon junior Max Henson claiming the Section II title.
Last season, Sircar triumphed over Memije in a thrilling three-set match (6-2, 3-6, 6-3) to secure the Class 3A championship, while Harmon bested Aquinas Academy’s Jackson Gillespie, 6-3, 6-3, to claim the Class 2A crown. The upcoming WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Boys’ Tennis Singles Championships will take place on April 8-9, 2025, at Bethel Park High School and North Allegheny High School (for Class 3A only). The first round through semifinals will be held on April 8, with all finals and consolation finals scheduled for April 9 at Bethel Park.
Excitingly, the top two finishers in Class 3A and the top three finishers in Class 2A will earn a spot in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Boys’ Tennis Singles Championships, which are set for May 23-24 at Hershey Racquet Club. This tournament has a rich history, with the first season held in 1945, won by Latrobe’s Jack Roof. Since then, 36 schools have produced at least one WPIAL boys’ tennis singles champion, and 21 student-athletes have won two or more championships.
Among the notable records, Mt. Lebanon holds the league record with 10 WPIAL boys’ tennis singles championships, won in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1969, 1971, 1983, 1986, 1990, and 1991. Furthermore, five student-athletes, including Mt. Lebanon’s Jack Waltz, Pine-Richland’s Casey Watt, Quaker Valley’s John Houghton, Sewickley Academy’s Luke Ross, and Shady Side Academy’s Brandon Tung, have each claimed three WPIAL singles championships. To date, no student-athlete has won four singles championships, adding to the competitive spirit of this year’s event.
As anticipation builds for the WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Boys’ Tennis Singles Championships, fans are eager to see how the returning champions and new contenders perform on the courts. With the stakes high and the competition fierce, this year’s tournament is sure to deliver thrilling matches.
Championship Capsule:
Dates & Locations: April 8-9 at Bethel Park High School, April 8 at North Allegheny High School (Class 3A)
Number of Qualifying Student-Athletes: 32
Class 3A Top Four Seeds: #1 Advaita Sircar (10), North Allegheny; #2 Adam Memije (12), Gateway; #3 Ari Plutko (12), Upper St. Clair; #4 Zidaan Hassan (12), Gateway
Class 2A Top Four Seeds: #1 Max Henson (11), Belle Vernon; #2 Justin Garvey (11), North Catholic; #3 Jonah Jasek (11), South Park; #4 Landon Harclerode (12), Valley
Fans and participants alike are counting down the days until the tournament begins, where legends may be born and rivalries reignited on the tennis courts of Western Pennsylvania.
