| | Event type
Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kilograms), Men
| Date | 28 November – 1 December 1956 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria | |
| Participants | 14 from 14 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. | |
Turkey’s Mustafa Dağıstanlı came in as the favorite after winning the 1954 World Championship. He did not disappoint, winning five straight matches, four by decision, to win the gold medal. He would return in 1960 and win another gold medal, then in the featherweight freestyle class, after winning featherweight World titles in 1957 and 1959. The final round had four wrestlers, including Iran’s Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi. Both Dağıstanlı and Yaghoubi won their final round matches, eliminating Soviet Mykhailo Shakhov and Korean Lee Sang-Gyun. This gave the gold medal to Dağıstanlı based on his split decision victory over Yaghoubi in round four.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | RE | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı |  TUR | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi |  IRI | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Mikhail Shakhov |  URS | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Lee Sang-Gyun |  KOR | – | – | |||
| 5 | Minoru Iizuka |  JPN | – | – | |||
| 6 | Fred Kämmerer |  GER | – | – | |||
| Din Zahur |  PAK | Eliminated r3/5 | 6 | ||||
| Adolfo Díaz |  ARG | Eliminated r3/5 | 7 | ||||
| Tarashkeswar Pandey |  IND | Eliminated r3/5 | 7 | ||||
| Tauno Jaskari |  FIN | Withdrew r3/5 | 4 | ||||
| Geoffrey Jameson |  AUS | Eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| Omer Vercauteren |  BEL | Eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| Ernesto Ramel |  PHI | Eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| Lee Allen |  USA | Eliminated r2/5 | 6 |
Round One (28 November 1956)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR | 0 | |||
| =2 | Adolfo Díaz | ARG | 1 | |||
| =2 | Tauno Jaskari | FIN | 1 | |||
| =2 | Fred Kämmerer | GER | 1 | |||
| =2 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI | 1 | |||
| =2 | Din Zahur | PAK | 1 | |||
| =2 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | 1 | |||
| =8 | Geoffrey Jameson | AUS | 3 | |||
| =8 | Omer Vercauteren | BEL | 3 | |||
| =8 | Tarashkeswar Pandey | IND | 3 | |||
| =8 | Minoru Iizuka | JPN | 3 | |||
| =8 | Ernesto Ramel | PHI | 3 | |||
| =8 | Mikhail Shakhov | URS | 3 | |||
| =8 | Lee Allen | USA | 3 |
| Match #1 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | decision (3-0) | Minoru Iizuka | JPN |
| Match #2 | Tauno Jaskari | FIN | decision (3-0) | Lee Allen | USA |
| Match #3 | Adolfo Díaz | ARG | decision (3-0) | Omer Vercauteren | BEL |
| Match #4 | Fred Kämmerer | GER | decision (3-0) | Tarashkeswar Pandey | IND |
| Match #5 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI | decision (3-0) | Mikhail Shakhov | URS |
| Match #6 | Din Zahur | PAK | decision (3-0) | Geoffrey Jameson | AUS |
| Match #7 | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR | fall (3:50) | Ernesto Ramel | PHI |
Round Two (29 November 1956)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI | 1 | |||
| =1 | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR | 1 | |||
| =1 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | 1 | |||
| 4 | Fred Kämmerer | GER | 2 | |||
| =5 | Din Zahur | PAK | 3 | |||
| =5 | Mikhail Shakhov | URS | 3 | |||
| =7 | Adolfo Díaz | ARG | 4 | |||
| =7 | Tauno Jaskari | FIN | 4 | |||
| =7 | Tarashkeswar Pandey | IND | 4 | |||
| =7 | Minoru Iizuka | JPN | 4 | |||
| =11 | Geoffrey Jameson | AUS | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | Omer Vercauteren | BEL | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | Ernesto Ramel | PHI | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | Lee Allen | USA | 6 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Minoru Iizuka | JPN | decision (3-0) | Tauno Jaskari | FIN |
| Match #2 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | fall (5:30) | Lee Allen | USA |
| Match #3 | Fred Kämmerer | GER | decision (3-0) | Adolfo Díaz | ARG |
| Match #4 | Tarashkeswar Pandey | IND | decision (3-0) | Omer Vercauteren | BEL |
| Match #5 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI | fall (6:30) | Geoffrey Jameson | AUS |
| Match #6 | Mikhail Shakhov | URS | fall (3:30) | Ernesto Ramel | PHI |
| Match #7 | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR | decision (2-1) | Din Zahur | PAK |
Round Three (30 November 1956)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI | 1 | |||
| =1 | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR | 1 | |||
| 3 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | 2 | |||
| 4 | Mikhail Shakhov | URS | 3 | |||
| 5 | Minoru Iizuka | JPN | 4 | |||
| 6 | Fred Kämmerer | GER | 5 | eliminated | ||
| 7 | Din Zahur | PAK | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =8 | Adolfo Díaz | ARG | 7 | eliminated | ||
| =8 | Tarashkeswar Pandey | IND | 7 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Minoru Iizuka | JPN | fall (5:00) | Adolfo Díaz | ARG |
| Match #2 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | decision (3-0) | Fred Kämmerer | GER |
| Match #3 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI | fall (2:36) | Tarashkeswar Pandey | IND |
| Match #4 | Mikhail Shakhov | URS | fall (6:00) | Din Zahur | PAK |
| Match #5 | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR | bye |
Round Four (1 December 1956)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI | 3 | |||
| =1 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | 3 | |||
| =1 | Mikhail Shakhov | URS | 3 | |||
| 4 | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR | 4 | |||
| 5 | Minoru Iizuka | JPN | 5 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Minoru Iizuka | JPN | decision (3-0) | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR |
| Match #2 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | decision (2-1) | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI |
| Match #3 | Mikhail Shakhov | URS | bye |
Final Round (1 December 1956)
| Match #1 | Mustafa Dağıstanlı | TUR | decision (3-0) | Mikhail Shakhov | URS |
| Match #2 | Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi | IRI | decision (3-0) | Lee Sang-Gyun | KOR |