45 Year Record: Kerkman Sets New All-Class, All-State Mark

This was Andy Kerkman's 1,322nd career rebound, breaking the 45-year-old all-class mark.

Record are made to be broken, but it took 45 years for anyone to break the all-class, all-state career rebounding record.

On Friday in Spencer, Clearwater-Orchard senior Andy Kerkman broke that record, which was set by Steve Erwin of Laurel in 1971.

Kerkman tied the record of 1,321 rebounds nearly a week earlier during the Heartland Hoops Classic in Grand Island. 

It was just a couple of minutes into Friday’s game when the 6-foot-8 senior soared above everyone for his 1,322nd career rebound and very quick put back against the Spartans.

Shelly Mlnarik, who has coach Kerkman all four years, applauded both Kerkman and the entire Cyclone team for the record.

“It’s a really big deal,” Mlnarik said. “I’m super proud of that kid. He’s worked hard all four years and has put a lot of time into it. Like I said, it is a team sport and he had to have everyone on the team with him and help him to get to that goal.”

Kerkman, the son of Kelly and Amy Kerkman, pulled down 17 rebounds on Friday, extending the record to 1,338 rebounds.

“I don’t think it’s sank in yet. At the start of the season, dad was really draping on me to rebound a lot because there was a potential record to be broken in rebounds,” he said. 

Kerkman said he wasn’t even aware of the record until the Cyclones’ trip to the state tournament last year.

“I didn’t even know it was in existence until last year at state basketball when I was looking at the book and saw 1,300 rebounds and thought, ‘I can get that.’” he said. “That was one of my goals for this year.”

While any record is nice, Kerkman admitted the timeframe of this record adds to the satisfaction.

“If it’s been in there for a long time, it must be pretty hard to break,” he said. “Rebounding has always been a big part of my game. There are a lot of games where I’ll have 10 or 15 more rebounds than points. I take that pretty serious."

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