La Salle's Cimato a runner-up in 'Beast'

La Salle's Matt Cimato posted a technical fall and four decisions before dropping a 6-2 verdict in the 145-pound final at the prestigious Beast of the East wrestling tournament on Sunday at the University of Delaware.

Cimato's runner-up finish to Dylan Milonas of Blair Academy (N.J.) was the top performance by a Philadelphia area wrestler in the 19th annual event. In the semifinals, the third-seeded Cimato edged second-seeded Jack Clark of McDonogh (Md.), 8-4.

In other highlights, Germantown Academy's Nick Grossi placed third at 220 pounds, and Chris Yankowich was sixth at 138, helping the Patriots to a 14th-place finish with 77 points in the 97-team competition.

Norristown, which finished 15th with 76 points, was led by Brett Hamer's third-place effort at 160 and Shane Springer's fifth place at 170.

West Chester Rustin got strong performances from Corey McQuiston, who placed fifth at 120, and Tyler Wood's sixth place at 182.

La Salle, which placed 18th with 66.5 points, also got a fourth place from Casey Kent at 152.

Haverford School freshman L.J. Barlow collected a seventh place at 182.

The Hill School's bid to win the 42d annual Dave Mercer Invitational for the first time since 2007 fell short with a 52-47 title loss to New Hampton Prep (N.H.). Hill's Josh Heyliger (19 points), Hans Brase (8 points, 4 rebounds) and Elijah McLaurin (5 assists, 4 rebounds) earned all-tournament honors.

Chestnut Hill won the seventh-place game, 35-28, over Peddie School (N.J.) as Malik Garner's 14 points and Michael Hayes' 10 helped overcome a 21-9 halftime deficit.

Nazareth Academy rallied from a 16-5 first-quarter deficit and knocked off host St. Hubert, 58-48, in a nonleague contest. Danielle Gasperi contributed 21 points and nine rebounds, including eight boards in a 25-10 fourth-quarter surge.

Villa Joseph Marie also came back from a big deficit to jolt visiting Archbishop Prendergast, 39-33. Down by 26-16 at intermission, the Jems used pressure defense plus balanced scoring by Kelly Coleman (10), Sarah Madden (8) and Melissa Poderis (7) to rally.

DAVE MERCER INVITATIONAL

New Hampton (N.H.) 19 18 7 8 - 52

Hill School 10 13 15 9 - 47

NH: Alston 2, Auguste 5, Evans 6, Hendricks 11, Liebert 3, Manning 10, Terrell 5, Vonleg 10.

HS: Jerome Alexander 9, Hans Brase 8, Josh Heyliger 19, Elijah McLaurin 5, John Moran 3, Adam Regensburg 3.

Peddie School (N.J.) 15 6 1 6 - 28

Chestnut Hill 5 4 11 15 - 35

PS: Jonah Brooks 7, Brown 1, Xavier Harris 8, Lindbergh 2, Blaise Mbargorba 10.

CH: Billy Dooley 9, Malik Garner 14, Mike Hayes 10, Tom Higgins 2.

Kent School 11 6 17 16 - 50

Perkiomen School 11 5 5 16 - 37

KS: Evan Battle 7, Travis Berry 11, Conor McDermott 10, Henry Pendergast 5, Leon Tambue 2, Stefon Williams 15.

PS: Bruce Brittingham 8, Eric Fanning 14, Nizar Kapic 12, Joshua Kingsley 1, Tyler Kohl 2.

BULLIS CLASSIC

Westtown 49, St. John's (Md.) 48

NONLEAGUE

Nazareth Academy 5 14 14 25 - 58

St. Hubert 16 11 11 10 - 48

NA: Gabby Balara 1, Nicole Dombrowski 12, Danielle Gasperi 21, Bridget Sobon 12, Raya Stearn 9, Marissa Sylvester 3.

SH: Erin Anastasi 16, Ashley Bieringer 7, Maria Derentz 4, Charlotte Kucowski 9, Linder 7, Casey Matthews 3, Christie Patterson 2.

Archbishop Prendergast 16 10 2 5 - 33

Villa Joseph Marie 11 5 13 10 - 39

AP: Amber Ballinger 2, Kristina Dumont 2, Kerry Anne Farrell 6, Taylor Fitzgerald 8, Rosie Halloran 7, Brooke Lachette 4, Maura McLean 4.

VJM: Kelly Coleman 10, Sarah Madden 8, Darrah Morrison 2, Mary Newell 6, Melissa Poderis 7, Mary Kate Ridgeway 2, Courtney Shaw 4.