It would be hard to imagine what the Wisconsin wrestling team would look like without its current combination of brothers.

Half of the weight classes for the past two seasons have belonged to twins and quadruplets. Not only have these brotherly combinations occupied the varsity slots, they have delivered for head coach Barry Davis.

This year saw the Badgers saw dual meets featuring the names of Kelly Flaherty, Ryan Flaherty, Tony Turner, Tyler Turner, and Adam Turner. Last year, you could have added Ryan Turner to that list.

The success of this year’s wrestling team can be contributed to breakout seasons by the Flahertys and strong campaigns by each Turner brother. Kelly and Ryan Flaherty have combined for 37 wins while the Turner trio have racked up 41 wins.

If twins and triplets weren’t enough, next year’s team will see the addition of highly touted Josh and Jordan Crass of Medford. Finally, Kyle Massey of Champlin, Minn., will join his brother Jared Massey at Wisconsin.

The 2004-05 team will feature four sets of brothers total.

UW will wrestle its final home duel of the season against Northwestern at 7 p.m. Friday. Students are allowed free admission with student IDs.

Record-setting season

The 2003-04 season has been a season of milestones. Barry Davis picked up his 100th win while at Wisconsin while also seeing the program’s 600th win. The 16 dual-meet victories the Badgers have are their best since the 1983-84 season when they went 22-6.

Their 17-16 win against Minnesota was also their first against the Gophers since the 1995-96 season. While ending an ugly streak against the Gophers, Wisconsin was unable to overcome a dismal streak against Iowa in a 9-24 loss last week at the Field House.

While the score indicates a lopsided Hawkeye victory, the match was much closer than is revealed on paper. There were a number of matches where Wisconsin almost won.