| | Event type

Middleweight, Greco-Roman (≤79 kilograms), Men

Date	24 – 27 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Messuhalli I, Helsinki
Participants	11 from 11 countries
Format	Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss of any type = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions, thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five bad points eliminated a wrestler. When only three wrestlers remained, if they had not yet met one another, they wrestled further rounds. Medal placements were determined by the match record among the medalists, with bad points as a tie breaker. A wrestler in the medal rounds could continue with 5 or more bad points.

Swede Axel Grönberg came in as the defending gold medalist, the 1950 World Champion, and the clear favorite. He had little difficulty defending his title, winning all five of his matches by unanimous decisions. In the medalist round he defeated Finland’s Kalervo Rauhala and Soviet Nikolay Belov, who won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. One other favorite entering the event was Turkey’s Ali Özdemir, runner-up to Grönberg at the 1950 Worlds, but Özdemir was eliminated after a loss in round three and placed fifth.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	MMR/RE	Bad Points
1	Axel Grönberg	SWE	2-0	–	Gold
2	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	1-1	–	Silver
3	Nikolay Belov	URS	0-2	–	Bronze
4	Gyula Németi	HUN	–	–
5	Ali Özdemir	TUR	–	–
6	Ercole Gallegati	ITA	–	–
AC	Émile Courtois	BEL	Eliminated r3/5	6
AC	Gustav Gocke	GER	Eliminated r3/5	7
AC	Adel Ibrahim Moustafa	EGY	Eliminated r2/5	5
AC	Lars Bilet	NOR	Eliminated r2/5	6
AC	Jerzy Gryt	POL	Eliminated r2/5	6

Round One (24 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Émile Courtois	BEL	0
=1	Nikolay Belov	URS	0
=3	Gustav Gocke	GER	1
=3	Gyula Németi	HUN	1
=3	Axel Grönberg	SWE	1
=3	Ali Özdemir	TUR	1
=7	Adel Ibrahim Moustafa	EGY	3
=7	Ercole Gallegati	ITA	3
=7	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	3
=7	Lars Bilet	NOR	3
=7	Jerzy Gryt	POL	3

Match #1	Gustav Gocke	GER	decision (2-1)	Ercole Gallegati	ITA
Match #2	Axel Grönberg	SWE	decision (3-0)	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN
Match #3	Ali Özdemir	TUR	decision (2-1)	Adel Ibrahim Moustafa	EGY
Match #4	Gyula Németi	HUN	decision (3-0)	Lars Bilet	NOR
Match #5	Nikolay Belov	URS	fall (2:17)	Jerzy Gryt	POL
Match #6	Émile Courtois	BEL	bye

Round Two (25 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Nikolay Belov	URS	0
2	Gyula Németi	HUN	1
=3	Axel Grönberg	SWE	2
=3	Ali Özdemir	TUR	2
=5	Ercole Gallegati	ITA	3
=5	Émile Courtois	BEL	3
=7	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	4
=7	Gustav Gocke	GER	4
=9	Adel Ibrahim Moustafa	EGY	6	eliminated
=9	Lars Bilet	NOR	6	eliminated
=9	Jerzy Gryt	POL	6	eliminated

Match #1	Ercole Gallegati	ITA	fall (6:56)	Émile Courtois	BEL
Match #2	Axel Grönberg	SWE	decision (3-0)	Gustav Gocke	GER
Match #3	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	decision (3-0)	Adel Ibrahim Moustafa	EGY
Match #4	Ali Özdemir	TUR	decision (3-0)	Lars Bilet	NOR
Match #5	Gyula Németi	HUN	fall (8:26)	Jerzy Gryt	POL
Match #6	Nikolay Belov	URS	bye

Round Three (26 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Nikolay Belov	URS	0
2	Gyula Németi	HUN	2
3	Axel Grönberg	SWE	3
4	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	4
5	Ali Özdemir	TUR	5	eliminated
=6	Ercole Gallegati	ITA	6	eliminated
=6	Émile Courtois	BEL	6	eliminated
8	Gustav Gocke	GER	7	eliminated

Match #1	Nikolay Belov	URS	default (injury)	Émile Courtois	BEL
Match #2	Axel Grönberg	SWE	decision (3-0)	Ercole Gallegati	ITA
Match #3	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	fall (11:06)	Gustav Gocke	GER
Match #4	Gyula Németi	HUN	decision (3-0)	Ali Özdemir	TUR

Round Four (27 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Nikolay Belov	URS	3
2	Axel Grönberg	SWE	4
=3	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	5	eliminated
=3	Gyula Németi	HUN	5	eliminated

Match #1	Axel Grönberg	SWE	decision (3-0)	Nikolay Belov	URS
Match #2	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	decision (3-0)	Gyula Németi	HUN

Final Round (27 July 1952)

Match #1	Kalervo Rauhala	FIN	decision (3-0)	Nikolay Belov	URS
Match #2	Axel Grönberg	SWE	bye