| Date | 3 – 6 August 1948 — 10:00-13:30-18:00-23:30 (all days) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London | |
| Participants | 9 from 9 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by negative 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 negative points eliminated a wrestler. | |
The heavy favorite should have been the Estonian Soviet Johannes Kotkas, who was the 1938-39 European Champion, representing Estonia, and won again in 1947 for the Soviet Union. Kotkas could not compete, however, as the Soviet Union did not enter the Olympics until 1952, and Estonia was no longer an independent nation. He would return in 1952 and win the gold medal in this class at Helsinki.
In Kotkas’ absence, the gold medal went to Turkey’s Ahmet Kireççi, who had won a bronze medal in middleweight freestyle at the 1936 Olympics. Kireççi won the gold with a final round unanimous decision over Italy’s Guido Fantoni, who took the bronze behind Sweden’s Tor Nilsson. Nilsson had lost to Kireççi by fall in 15:48 of the second round.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Round Eliminated | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Ahmet Kireççi |  TUR | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | – | Tor Nilsson |  SWE | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Guido Fantoni |  ITA | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | – | Taisto Kangasniemi |  FIN | – | – | |||
| 5 | 130 | József Tarányi |  HUN | – | – | |||
| 6 | – | Moritz Inderbitzin |  SUI | – | – | |||
| =7 | – | Ernesto Noya |  ARG | eliminated r2/5 | 6 | |||
| =7 | – | Len Pidduck |  GBR | eliminated r2/5 | 6 | |||
| 9 | 142 | Josef Růžička |  TCH | withdrew r2/5 | 0 |
| Date | 3 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | – | Taisto Kangasniemi | FIN | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Guido Fantoni | ITA | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Tor Nilsson | SWE | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | 142 | Josef Růžička | TCH | 0 | withdrew | ||
| =1 | – | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR | 0 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Ernesto Noya | ARG | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Len Pidduck | GBR | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | 130 | József Tarányi | HUN | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Moritz Inderbitzin | SUI | 3 | – |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 03 Aug | Josef Růžička | TCH | Fall (13:27) | József Tarányi | HUN | |
| Match #2 | 03 Aug | Taisto Kangasniemi | FIN | Fall (4:59) | Ernesto Noya | ARG | |
| Match #3 | 03 Aug | Tor Nilsson | SWE | Fall (4:41) | Len Pidduck | GBR | |
| Match #4 | 03 Aug | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR | Fall (13:51) | Moritz Inderbitzin | SUI | |
| Match #5 | 03 Aug | Guido Fantoni | ITA |
| Date | 4 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR | 0 | – | ||
| 2 | – | Guido Fantoni | ITA | 1 | – | ||
| 3 | – | Taisto Kangasniemi | FIN | 2 | – | ||
| =4 | 130 | József Tarányi | HUN | 3 | – | ||
| =4 | – | Tor Nilsson | SWE | 3 | – | ||
| 6 | – | Moritz Inderbitzin | SUI | 4 | – | ||
| =7 | – | Ernesto Noya | ARG | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =7 | – | Len Pidduck | GBR | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 04 Aug | Guido Fantoni | ITA | Decision (2-1) | Taisto Kangasniemi | FIN | |
| Match #2 | 04 Aug | József Tarányi | HUN | Fall (4:49) | Ernesto Noya | ARG | |
| Match #3 | 04 Aug | Moritz Inderbitzin | SUI | Decision (3-0) | Len Pidduck | GBR | |
| Match #4 | 04 Aug | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR | Fall (15:48) | Tor Nilsson | SWE |
| Date | 5 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | – | Guido Fantoni | ITA | 1 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR | 1 | – | ||
| 3 | – | Tor Nilsson | SWE | 3 | – | ||
| 4 | – | Taisto Kangasniemi | FIN | 5 | eliminated | ||
| 5 | 130 | József Tarányi | HUN | 6 | eliminated | ||
| 6 | – | Moritz Inderbitzin | SUI | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug | Guido Fantoni | ITA | Fall (6:06) | József Tarányi | HUN | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Taisto Kangasniemi | FIN | |
| Match #3 | 05 Aug | Tor Nilsson | SWE | Fall (2:54) | Moritz Inderbitzin | SUI |
| Date | 5 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR | 1 | ||
| 2 | Tor Nilsson | SWE | 3 | ||
| 3 | Guido Fantoni | ITA | 4 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug | Tor Nilsson | SWE | Fall (13:12) | Guido Fantoni | ITA | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR |
| Date | 6 August 1948 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug | Ahmet Kireççi | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Guido Fantoni | ITA | |
| Match #2 | 06 Aug | Tor Nilsson | SWE |
