| | Event type

Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle (≤87 kg), Men

Date	29 – 31 July 1948 — 10:00-13:30-18:00-23:30 (all days)
Status	Olympic
Location	Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London
Participants	15 from 15 countries
Format	Elimination by bad points. Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss by 2-1 decision = 2 points; loss by 3-0 decision = 3 points; loss by fall = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions, thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five bad points eliminated a wrestler.

At the 1946 European Championships, Sweden’s Bengt Fahlkvist had defeated Switzerland’s Fritz Stöckli and the two were both in London for this class. After five rounds, they were unbeaten, but so was American Henry Wittenberg. In a round-robin final round, all three matches went to split decisions, but Wittenberg won both bouts to win the gold medal, with Stöckli defeating Fahlkvist for the silver medal. Stöckli would later compete in the 1952 Winter Olympics in bobsledding, placing fourth with the Swiss four-man bob. Fahlkvist returned to the 1952 Summer Olympics, wrestling that time in Greco-Roman as a heavyweight, where he tied for sixth. Wittenberg would win the US AAU title seven times and at Helsinki in 1952, won the silver medal in this class. He was also a two-time champion at the Maccabiah Games.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Round Eliminated	Bad Points
1	139	Henry Wittenberg	USA	–	–	Gold
2	135	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	–	–	Silver
3	260	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	–	–	Bronze
=4	122	Fernand Payette	CAN	–	–
=4	136	Muharrem Candaş	TUR	–	–
6	134	Pat Morton	RSA	–	–
AC	–	Karel Istaz	BEL	eliminated r3/8	6
AC	128	Johnny Sullivan	GBR	eliminated r3/8	6
AC	129	Spyros Defteraios	GRE	eliminated r3/8	6
AC	132	Oscar Verona	ITA	eliminated r3/8	6
AC	130	József Tarányi	HUN	eliminated r3/8	7
AC	123	Ragab El-Zaim	EGY	eliminated r2/8	6
AC	125	Pekka Mellavuo	FIN	eliminated r2/8	6
AC	126	Robert Landesmann	FRA	eliminated r2/8	6
AC	131	Mansour Mir Ghavami	IRI	eliminated r2/8	6
DNS	124	Ibrahim Orabi	EGY	–	–
DNS	127	Ken Richmond	GBR	–	–
DNS	133	Ibrahim Mahgoub	LBN	–	–
DNS	137	Ahmet Kireççi	TUR	–	–
DNS	138	Verne Gagne	USA	–	–

Round One

Date	29 July 1948

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points
=1	122	Fernand Payette	CAN	0
=1	129	Spyros Defteraios	GRE	0
=1	135	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	0
=4	128	Johnny Sullivan	GBR	1
=4	134	Pat Morton	RSA	1
=4	260	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	1
=4	136	Muharrem Candaş	TUR	1
=4	139	Henry Wittenberg	USA	1
=9	–	Karel Istaz	BEL	3
=9	123	Ragab El-Zaim	EGY	3
=9	125	Pekka Mellavuo	FIN	3
=9	126	Robert Landesmann	FRA	3
=9	130	József Tarányi	HUN	3
=9	131	Mansour Mir Ghavami	IRI	3
=9	132	Oscar Verona	ITA	3

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	29 Jul	Fernand Payette	CAN	Fall (8:40)	Robert Landesmann	FRA
Match #2	29 Jul	Spyros Defteraios	GRE	Fall (6:04)	Ragab El-Zaim	EGY
Match #3	29 Jul	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	Decision (3-0)	Oscar Verona	ITA
Match #4	29 Jul	Pat Morton	RSA	Decision (3-0)	Mansour Mir Ghavami	IRI
Match #5	29 Jul	Muharrem Candaş	TUR	Decision (3-0)	Karel Istaz	BEL
Match #6	29 Jul	Johnny Sullivan	GBR	Decision (3-0)	József Tarányi	HUN
Match #7	29 Jul	Henry Wittenberg	USA	Decision (3-0)	Pekka Mellavuo	FIN
Match #8	29 Jul	Fritz Stöckli	SUI

Round Two

Date	30 July 1948

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	122	Fernand Payette	CAN	0	–
=1	135	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	0	–
3	139	Henry Wittenberg	USA	1	–
=4	260	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	2	–
=4	136	Muharrem Candaş	TUR	2	–
=6	–	Karel Istaz	BEL	3	–
=6	129	Spyros Defteraios	GRE	3	–
=6	132	Oscar Verona	ITA	3	–
=9	128	Johnny Sullivan	GBR	4	–
=9	130	József Tarányi	HUN	4	–
=9	134	Pat Morton	RSA	4	–
=12	123	Ragab El-Zaim	EGY	6	eliminated
=12	125	Pekka Mellavuo	FIN	6	eliminated
=12	126	Robert Landesmann	FRA	6	eliminated
=12	131	Mansour Mir Ghavami	IRI	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	30 Jul	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	Fall (1:06)	Robert Landesmann	FRA
Match #2	30 Jul	Fernand Payette	CAN	Fall (2:07)	Spyros Defteraios	GRE
Match #3	30 Jul	Oscar Verona	ITA	Fall (8:51)	Ragab El-Zaim	EGY
Match #4	30 Jul	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	Decision (3-0)	Pat Morton	RSA
Match #5	30 Jul	József Tarányi	HUN	Decision (3-0)	Mansour Mir Ghavami	IRI
Match #6	30 Jul	Henry Wittenberg	USA	Fall (0:47)	Johnny Sullivan	GBR
Match #7	30 Jul	Muharrem Candaş	TUR	Decision (3-0)	Pekka Mellavuo	FIN
Match #8	30 Jul	Karel Istaz	BEL

Round Three

Date	30 July 1948

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	135	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	0	–
=2	122	Fernand Payette	CAN	1	–
=2	139	Henry Wittenberg	USA	1	–
=4	260	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	2	–
=4	136	Muharrem Candaş	TUR	2	–
6	134	Pat Morton	RSA	5	eliminated
=7	–	Karel Istaz	BEL	6	eliminated
=7	128	Johnny Sullivan	GBR	6	eliminated
=7	129	Spyros Defteraios	GRE	6	eliminated
=7	132	Oscar Verona	ITA	6	eliminated
11	130	József Tarányi	HUN	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	30 Jul	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	Fall (1:20)	Karel Istaz	BEL
Match #2	30 Jul	Fernand Payette	CAN	Decision (3-0)	Oscar Verona	ITA
Match #3	30 Jul	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	Fall (0:38)	Spyros Defteraios	GRE
Match #4	30 Jul	Pat Morton	RSA	Decision (2-1)	Johnny Sullivan	GBR
Match #5	30 Jul	Henry Wittenberg	USA	Fall (2:20)	József Tarányi	HUN
Match #6	30 Jul	Muharrem Candaş	TUR

Round Four

Date	31 July 1948

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points
=1	135	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	1
=1	139	Henry Wittenberg	USA	1
3	260	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	2
=4	122	Fernand Payette	CAN	4
=4	136	Muharrem Candaş	TUR	4

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	31 Jul	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	Decision (2-1)	Muharrem Candaş	TUR
Match #2	31 Jul	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	Fall (7:21)	Fernand Payette	CAN
Match #3	31 Jul	Henry Wittenberg	USA

Round Five

Date	31 July 1948

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	135	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	1	–
=1	139	Henry Wittenberg	USA	1	–
3	260	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	2	–
=4	122	Fernand Payette	CAN	7	eliminated
=4	136	Muharrem Candaş	TUR	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	31 Jul	Henry Wittenberg	USA	Fall (7:38)	Muharrem Candaş	TUR
Match #2	31 Jul	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	Fall (2:26)	Fernand Payette	CAN
Match #3	31 Jul	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE

Round Six

Date	31 July 1948

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points
1	135	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	1
2	139	Henry Wittenberg	USA	2
3	260	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	4

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	31 Jul	Henry Wittenberg	USA	Decision (2-1)	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE
Match #2	31 Jul	Fritz Stöckli	SUI

Round Seven

Date	31 July 1948

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	135	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	2	–
=1	139	Henry Wittenberg	USA	2	–
3	260	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	31 Jul	Fritz Stöckli	SUI	Decision (2-1)	Bengt Fahlkvist	SWE
Match #2	31 Jul	Henry Wittenberg	USA

Final Round

Date	31 July 1948

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	31 Jul	Henry Wittenberg	USA	Decision (2-1)	Fritz Stöckli	SUI