Apr 25, 2022 3 min read

After winning the Section 4 title, Jack and Luke Wilke finished fourth in the WPIAL Class AAA doubles tournament played at North Allegheny High School.

The Mt. Lebanon brothers dropped their consolation contest on April 27, falling in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, to Andrew and Aaron Allen.

The Franklin Regional pair had entered the tournament as the top seed but lost to eventual WPIAL champions David Mnuskin and Sam Bitzer from Shady Side Academy, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, in the semifinals.

The Wilke twins lost to Franklin Regional’s tandem of Prerit Yadav and Dhruv Kulkarni, 6-2, 6-2, in their semifinal clash. Yadav and Kulkarni finished runner-up to Mnuskin and Bitzer, falling 6-3, 6-3, in the championship match.

The Wilke brothers, who were third-place finishers in the 2021 doubles tournament, won their opening matches against Pine-Richland’s Braiden Smalley and Ethan Silipo, 10-3, as well as Allderdice’s Deniz Finked and Ian Kuchera, 10-6.

During the Section 4 doubles tournament held earlier, Jack and Luke Wilke defeated Dev Patel and Ronan Gibbons from Upper St. Clair in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, to claim the title.

After a first-round bye, the Wilkes dispatched Canon-McMillan’s duo of Nick Kubik and Connor Simms, 10-1, in the quarterfinals.

The Blue Devil duo outlasted Chartiers Valley’s Ethan Ecstatic and Derek Ferrer, 7-6 (2), 6-4, in the semifinals.

The CV pair finished fourth in the tournament after succumbing to Lebo’s Cole Descalzi and Nolan McGill, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2, in the consolation match.

The top four doubles squads advanced to the WPIAL Class AAA championships. Only the Wilke twins advanced past the first round in the district finals.

Patel and Gibbons advanced to the semifinals in the sectional with victories against Trinity’s Dylan Johns and Alex Ausher, 10-0, Peters Township’s Matt Veydt and Sheng Wang.

A senior and sophomore, Patel and Gibbons bested Descalzi and McGill, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the finals.

Descalzi and McGill reached the final four with wins over Canon-McMillan’s Will O’Bryn and Joe Felton and Peters Township’s David Lusk and Avi Sharmi, 10-7.

Ecstatic and Ferrer made their way through the bracket by beating USC’s tandem of Daniel Wang and Ari Pluto, 10-8, in the quarterfinals as well as Trinity sophomores Ethan Clawson and Chase Stephens, 10-1, in first-round action.

Wang and Plutko eliminated South Fayette’s Jacob Carney and Yatin Katta, 10-2, in their first-round bout.

Other local pairs in the section competition included: Bethel Park’s double units of Gavin Hsu and Luke Maracic as well as Sam Pellis and Victor Hermocillo.

CV’s Derek Armfield and Brendon Hallisey also competed in the tournament.