Gateway boys tennis celebrates return to top of WPIAL mountain

By: Michael Love
Sunday, May 11, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The North Allegheny and Gateway boys tennis teams expected to play a close match down to the wire when they met to decide the WPIAL Class 3A title for a third year in a row.

Each team scored 3-2 victories the previous two seasons, Gateway claiming gold in 2023 and North Allegheny returning the favor last year.

It went down to the final match again May 7, and Gators senior Zidaan Hassan at No. 2 singles gutted out a long two-set victory over North Allegheny’s Evan Kaufman to give the Gators that crucial victory point.

“North Allegheny is just a very good team, and from facing them in the finals the past two years, we knew it was going to be another great challenge,” Gateway coach Matt Stockunas said.

“We knew how strong they were in the doubles, so it was probably going to come down to the three singles matches, and that’s what happened. With (senior) Adam (Memije), Zidaan and (junior) Logan (Memije) coming out and playing lights out and going right after North Allegheny’s No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles players was really incredible to see.

“I am just so proud of how these young men throughout the lineup have worked to get better at their own levels. It’s a testament to what they’ve been able to do to win this again.”

Gateway, now 12-0, went undefeated in the regular season, and as the No. 2 seed for the playoffs, reached the finals with a 5-0 win over No. 15 Mars in the first round, a 4-1 triumph over No. 7 Shady Side Academy in the quarterfinals, and a 3-2 victory over No. 3 Mt. Lebanon in the semifinals.

The Gators, by virtue of just making the WPIAL finals, also punched their tickets to the PIAA tournament for a third year in a row. They were slated to face the No. 3 team from District 3 — either Manheim Township (14-3) or Landisville Hempfield (15-1).

Gateway was set to play the first-round PIAA match in WPIAL territory Tuesday.

If the Gators advance, they will set themselves up in Hershey on Friday for the quarterfinals and Saturday for what they hope are semifinal and championship matches.

In 2023, Gateway advanced to the state semifinals before falling to District 1 runner-up Conestoga, 3-0.

Last year, the Gators, as the WPIAL runner-up, beat District 10 champion McDowell in the first round, but weren’t able to solve District 1 champion Lower Merion, 3-0, in the quarterfinals.

It was the third time in a year Adam Memije and Advaita Sircar faced each other, with their last match coming in the WPIAL singles finals where Memije came out triumphant after a three-hour duel.

Last week’s match wasn’t as close as Memije was more dominant with a 6-3, 6-0 win.

“Adam came in really focused on what he wanted to do and how he wanted to attack,” Stockunas said.

“He forced Advaita into doing some things he wasn’t comfortable doing. It was some of the best tennis I’ve seen Adam play in his three years at Gateway.”

Logan Memije did his part, beating NA’s Srivatsav Thirumala, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 3 singles to help set up Hassan’s attempt to bring home the title.

North Allegheny’s first doubles pair of Adhav Ramadas and Nick Scheuring defeated juniors Troy Boden and Abdulwasay Syed, 6-0, 6-0, and the Tigers second pairing of Shivum Telang and Ronit Ginde won 6-2, 6-1 over Gators junior Abuzar Hameez and sophomore Isaac Sha to spot the Tigers an early 2-0 lead in the match.

Hassan and Kaufman battled through a tight first set with the players going to a tiebreaker. Hassan prevailed 7-4 in the tiebreaker to give him the advantage.

Hassan rallied from being down a break in both sets. He outlasted Kaufman in the second set 6-4 to return Gateway to the top of the WPIAL mountain.

“I try not to look at it like I’m super down, I just try to play every point that’s in regardless of the score,” Hassan told the Trib after the match. “I don’t think too much about the score when I’m trying to get it back to level.

“I’m really thankful that I’ve been in pretty good shape this year. I’ve been doing a lot of fitness and a lot of running. I’m happy that I was able to stay steady with my energy throughout the match and not move around a lot.”

A large contingent of supporters, including the entire Gateway team, energized Hassan to bring his best and win the match.

“Zidaan is sometimes a little bit of a slow starter and has some nerves that he has to overcome, but he is just so resilient,” Stockunas said.

“He focused and with his teammates being there cheering him on and his parents being there cheering him on. He had some struggles, but he made some adjustments to his serve, and that was what was the difference.”

All eyes were on Hassan as he was the final match to finish.

“The first set, Zidaan was playing right beside Adam and feeding off of the cheers for Adam and how well he was playing,” Stockunas said.

“That made Zidaan dig even deeper to focus more. He knew what he needed to do. He’s been in pressure situations before. He just went out and played tennis and made the other kid make mistakes.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway