Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle lightweight


The men's freestyle lightweight competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne took place from 28 November to 1 December at the Royal Exhibition Building. Nations were limited to one competitor.

Competition format

This freestyle wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman and at the 1932 Summer Olympics for freestyle wrestling, as modified in 1952. Each round featured all wrestlers pairing off and wrestling one bout. The loser received 3 points. The winner received 1 point if the win was by decision and 0 points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least 5 points was eliminated. This elimination continued until the medal rounds, which began when 3 wrestlers remained. These 3 wrestlers each faced each other in a round-robin medal round ; record within the medal round determined medals, with bad points breaking ties.

Results

Round 1

; Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Muhammad AshrafFallO Tae-geun
Mario TovarFallMateo Tanaquin
Jay Thomas EvansFallJack Taylor
Shigeru KasaharaFallDavid Schumacher
Gyula TóthFallJuan Rolón
Emam-Ali HabibiFallOlle Anderberg
Roger BielleDecision, 2–1Väinö Hakkarainen
Garibaldo NizzolaFallLakhshmi Kant Pandey
Adil GüngörDecision, 3–0Georgi Zaychev
Alimbeg BestayevByeN/AN/A

; Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
9011
9011
11033
11033
11O Tae-geun033
11033
11033
11033
11033
11033
11033

Round 2

; Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Alimbeg BestayevFallO Tae-geun
Mario TovarDecision, 2–1Muhammad Ashraf
Jack TaylorDecision, 3–0Mateo Tanaquin
Jay Thomas EvansDecision, 3–0Shigeru Kasahara
Juan RolónDecision, 3–0David Schumacher
Emam-Ali HabibiDecision, 3–0Gyula Tóth
Olle AnderbergDecision, 2–1Väinö Hakkarainen
Garibaldo NizzolaDecision, 2–1Roger Bielle
Adil GüngörDecision, 3–0Lakhshmi Kant Pandey
Georgi ZaychevByeN/AN/A

; Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1000
2011
2011
2011
2011
6112
7033
7033
7033
7303
11314
11134
11314
11314
15336
15O Tae-geun336
15336
15336
15336

Round 3

Anderberg was injured and withdrew.
; Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Alimbeg BestayevFallGeorgi Zaychev
Muhammad AshrafDecision, 3–0Jack Taylor
Jay Thomas EvansDecision, 3–0Mario Tovar
Shigeru KasaharaFallJuan Rolón
Gyula TóthForfeitOlle Anderberg
Emam-Ali HabibiDecision, 3–0Roger Bielle
Garibaldo NizzolaDecision, 2–1Adil Güngör

; Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1000
2112
2112
2112
5303
5303
7314
7134
9235
10336
11437
11437
11437
11437

Round 4

; Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Alimbeg BestayevFallMuhammad Ashraf
Shigeru KasaharaFallMario Tovar
Gyula TóthDecision, 3–0Jay Thomas Evans
Emam-Ali HabibiDecision, 3–0Garibaldo Nizzola

; Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1000
2213
2303
4314
5235
5235
7437
7437

Round 5

It is unclear why Tóth finished fourth despite having fewer bad points than Kasahara, who advanced to the medal rounds, at the end of this round.
; Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Gyula TóthDecision, 2–1Alimbeg Bestayev
Emam-Ali HabibiDecision, 3–0Shigeru Kasahara

; Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1033
2314
3336
4415

Medal rounds

Habibi's round 5 victory over Kasahara counted for the medal rounds. Habibi also defeated Bestayev, taking the gold medal with a 2–0 record against the other medalists. Kasahara never faced Bestayev; it is unclear how the silver and bronze medals were decided.
; Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Emam-Ali HabibiFallAlimbeg Bestayev

; Points
RankWrestlerNationWinsLosses
20
01
01