Wheeling tennis pros John Chatlak (left) and Jeremy McClelland (right) will be competing in the Men’s Open Singles at the WVU Medicine WV Open this week. Play begins on Thursday and concludes with finals on Sunday.

WHEELING – The Wheeling Oglebay Tennis Club will host the WVU Medicine WV Open July 31 through August 3 at the Oglebay Horne Family Racquet Center and the Wheeling Park Hilltop Courts.

With 100 entrants in 16 divisions, some first round matches will be played on Thursday starting at 4 pm. The majority of the matches will begin on Friday at 9 am, and play will continue all day Friday and Saturday with finals scheduled on Sunday.

“We are excited to welcome our new title sponsor for this event,” Tournament Director Debbie Pickens said. “WVU Medicine brings not only financial support but also recognition to our event. Thanks to their generosity, a total of $5000 will be awarded in the open divisions; Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles, and Mixed.”

The men’s open singles division has 25 entrants. The No. 1 seed is Mitchell Maroscher, from Salem, OH. Maroscher won this event in 2013 and was a finalist in 2018 and 2024. After his collegiate career at Youngstown State, he began a career in manufacturing and is teaching tennis part-time. He is also coaching high school tennis.

Loren Byers, the 2024 Men’s Open Singles Champion, is recovering from an injury and is unable to return this year.

Additional seeds are (2) Jacob Patterson of Bridgeville, PA; (3) Clint Boling of Pitcairn, PA; (4) Max Henson of Rostraver Township, PA; (5) AJ Mercer of Huntington, WV; (6) Illia Shcherbakov of Cleveland, OH; (7) Jeremy McClelland of Wheeling, WV; and (8) Jackson Clements of New Albany, OH.

Wheeling teaching professionals John Chatlak (65) and Jeremy McClelland (37) continue to compete in open divisions.

Chatlak has played in the men’s open singles since 1978 and has won singles and doubles titles. Over the years he has taught and competed with students, including McClelland.

McClelland, who has won the Men’s Open Singles five times as well as multiple open doubles events, commented, “I am looking forward to playing and hopefully still competing well. I’ve been playing this tournament since I was 13 and have many fond memories. I am most excited to play doubles with my high school teammate, Tyler McCullough, in the Men’s Open Doubles and with one of my students, Madeline Bradshaw, in the Mixed Open Doubles.”

Local players competing in the Men’s Open Singles in addition to Chatlak and McClelland include Tyler McCullough, Tyler Szafran, and Hugo Andreini III.

The Women’s Open Singles division is smaller but very competitive. The number 1 seed is Ava Catanzarite. Catanzarite, who is from Pittsburgh, PA, played collegiate tennis at UCLA and the

University of Oklahoma. While at UCLA she earned a ranking of 42 nationally with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. This 22 year-old is currently traveling to compete on the professional level.

The 2 seed in the Women’s Open Singles is Hailey Goris of Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Finals of the Men’s and Women’s Open Singles will be played on Sunday at 11 am with chair umpires overseeing the matches.

In addition to the Men’s and Women’s Open Singles, a total of 16 other divisions will be decided by Sunday: Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Open Doubles; Men’s 3.0. 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 Singles; Men’s 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 Combo Doubles; Women’s 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 Combo Doubles, and Mixed 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 Combo Doubles.

Using the NTRP rating system, the USTA levels the playing field by assigning an ability level to players. This enables players ages 18+ to compete against others with the same NTRP. To determine Combo Doubles, the NTRP of the two players is added to establish an NTRP rating. So a 3.5 and a 4.0 would total 7.5, making that team eligible for the 8.0 division. Teams can play up but not down.

In addition to local competitors in the men’s open singles, many area gentlemen will be competing in various divisions: Mark Panepinto, Ken Dearth, JT Thomas, Chris Freeman, Greg McDermott, Bill Piko, Harold Pickens, Christian Turak, Tyler Szafran, Charles Wylie, Alex Douglass, Paul Alig, Cody Francis, Wes Palmer, Ned George, Mark Singer, Alfred Valle, Chad Broadwater, Brett Andrews, and Braeden Keen.

Local ladies competing in this event are Madeline Bradshaw, Samantha Piko, Billie Jo Johnston, Leanne Straub, Maggie Allison, Gigi Mercer, and Julie Joseph.

The schedule of daily matches will be available on the USTA tournament website, or spectators can call the Oglebay shop at 304-243-4040 for daily schedule updates.

On Sunday, prior to the Men’s and Women’s Open Singles finals, the USTA will honor the Pickens/McClelland family as recipients of the Middle States Family of the Year award.

Kelle Cunningham, USTA/Middle States/Allegheny Mountain District representative, will present the award.

The WOTC welcomes all to come cheer for competitors throughout the event. Admission to all sessions is free.