Wrestling at the 1976 Summer Olympics

Wrestling in 1976 was mostly conducted at the Pierre Charbonneau Center, in the Olympic Park, although the final rounds of freestyle were held at the Maurice Richard Arena. The Pierre Charbonneau Center was built in 1957 and hosts various conventions, exhibitions and sporting events. It was originally built as a police academy but has been the home arena for various Canadian professional basketball teams. The Maurice Richard Arena was built in 1962 and is named after an all-time Canadian hero from the NHL. It is mainly an ice rink, although some conventions and corporate events are also held there.

The 1976 wrestling programme was the same as in 1972, with 10 weight classes in each style, with no change in the weight limits. The event was again conducted by the negative (bad) point system, with a slight tweak in the scoring system from 1972, as win by fall or superior decision was now given 0 points, and loss by fall or superior decision earned 4 points. The negative (bad) point system was effectively a double elimination tournament, although a wrestler could not be eliminated after a victory. When three wrestlers remained in any class, they entered a medal round-robin competition, with previous match results carried over.

Soviet wrestling dominance was absolute in 1976. They won 12 gold medals and 18 medals in the 20 classes. They led both styles in both medal lists, with eight medals and five golds in freestyle, and winning medals in all 10 classes in Greco-Roman, with seven gold medals.