Beets' building block

University of Northern Iowa 174-pound Jarion Beets earned All-American honors with an eighth-place finish Saturday. He reached the podium in his first trip to the NCAA tournament, but had hopes of a higher spot on the stand.

“I'm glad I was an All-American,” said Beets, who suffered what he called a groin injury during Friday night's consolation and tried to fight through it before defaulting in the second period of his last match. “I had hoped a couple more steps than what I am.”

It gives the junior a steppingstone into next season.

“It builds a lot of confidence up that I didn't have at the start of the season,” Beets said. “Now that I see I keep building hard work eventually pays off.”

He's just the fourth Cedar Rapids prep to earn All-American honors since 2000. Beets, a former Kennedy prep, is the first since Joe Slaton, a four-time state finalist and two-time state champ for the Cougars, was an NCAA finalist at 133 pounds in 2008.

Former Cedar Rapids Prairie preps Trent and Paul Hynek were both two-time All-Americans. Trent was third at heavyweight in 2000 for Iowa State after being a national finalist in 1998. Paul placed sixth twice for UNI in 2001 and 2002.