| | Event type

Welterweight, Freestyle (≤73 kilograms), Men

Date	28 November – 1 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria
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.

The 1954 World Champion was Soviet Georgian Vakh’tang Balavadze and he would make it to the final round in Melbourne, joined there by Japanese Mitsuo Ikeda and Turkey’s İbrahim Zengin. In rounds three and four, Ikeda had defeated Balavadze and Zengin, so the gold medal was his by default, and he did not have to wrestle in the final round, as earlier round results were carried over. Zengin then defeated Balavadze to win the silver medal.

Balavadze had started out in sambo wrestling, a Soviet variant of judo and wrestling. He would win the World Championships again in 1957 and competed at the 1960 Olympics, but was not a medal contender. Zengin had been third at the 1951 Worlds as a lightweight.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	RE	Bad Points
1	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	–	–	Gold
2	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	–	–	Silver
3	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS	–	–	Bronze
=4	Nabi Sorouri	IRI	–	–
=4	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA	–	–
=4	Per Berlin	SWE	–	–
AC	Mitko Petkov	BUL	Eliminated r3/5	6
AC	Muhammad Latif	PAK	Eliminated r3/5	6
AC	Alfred Tischendorf	GER	Eliminated r3/5	7
AC	Ernie Fischer	USA	Eliminated r3/5	7
AC	Noel Granger	AUS	Eliminated r2/5	6
AC	Ernst Wandaller	AUT	Eliminated r2/5	6
AC	Devi Singh	IND	Eliminated r2/5	6
AC	Bruno Ochman	CAN	Withdrew r2/5	3
AC	Veikko Rantanen	FIN	Withdrew r2/5	3

Round One (28 November 1956 — -)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Mitko Petkov	BUL	0
=1	Nabi Sorouri	IRI	0
=1	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA	0
=1	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	0
=5	Alfred Tischendorf	GER	1
=5	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	1
=5	Per Berlin	SWE	1
=5	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS	1
=9	Noel Granger	AUS	3
=9	Ernst Wandaller	AUT	3
=9	Bruno Ochman	CAN	3	withdrew
=9	Veikko Rantanen	FIN	3	withdrew
=9	Devi Singh	IND	3
=9	Muhammad Latif	PAK	3
=9	Ernie Fischer	USA	3

Match #1	Mitko Petkov	BUL	fall (9:45)	Bruno Ochman	CAN
Match #2	Nabi Sorouri	IRI	fall (9:29)	Devi Singh	IND
Match #3	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	decision (3-0)	Ernie Fischer	USA
Match #4	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	fall (6:30)	Ernst Wandaller	AUT
Match #5	Per Berlin	SWE	decision (3-0)	Noel Granger	AUS
Match #6	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS	decision (3-0)	Veikko Rantanen	FIN
Match #7	Alfred Tischendorf	GER	decision (3-0)	Muhammad Latif	PAK
Match #8	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA	bye

Round Two (29 November 1956 — -)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	0
=2	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	1
=2	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA	1
=2	Per Berlin	SWE	1
=2	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS	1
=6	Mitko Petkov	BUL	3
=6	Nabi Sorouri	IRI	3
=6	Muhammad Latif	PAK	3
=9	Alfred Tischendorf	GER	4
=9	Ernie Fischer	USA	4
=11	Noel Granger	AUS	6	eliminated
=11	Ernst Wandaller	AUT	6	eliminated
=11	Devi Singh	IND	6	eliminated

Match #1	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA	decision (3-0)	Mitko Petkov	BUL
Match #2	Ernie Fischer	USA	decision (3-0)	Nabi Sorouri	IRI
Match #3	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	fall (9:50)	Devi Singh	IND
Match #4	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	fall (4:00)	Noel Granger	AUS
Match #5	Per Berlin	SWE	fall (8:46)	Ernst Wandaller	AUT
Match #6	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS	fall (2:50)	Alfred Tischendorf	GER
Match #7	Muhammad Latif	PAK	bye

Round Three (30 November 1956 — -)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	1
=2	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	2
=2	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA	2
=2	Per Berlin	SWE	2
=5	Nabi Sorouri	IRI	4
=5	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS	4
=7	Mitko Petkov	BUL	6	eliminated
=7	Muhammad Latif	PAK	6	eliminated
=9	Alfred Tischendorf	GER	7	eliminated
=9	Ernie Fischer	USA	7	eliminated

Match #1	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA	decision (3-0)	Muhammad Latif	PAK
Match #2	Nabi Sorouri	IRI	decision (3-0)	Mitko Petkov	BUL
Match #3	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	decision (3-0)	Ernie Fischer	USA
Match #4	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	decision (3-0)	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS
Match #5	Per Berlin	SWE	decision (3-0)	Alfred Tischendorf	GER

Round Four (1 December 1956)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	3
=2	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	4
=2	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS	4
=4	Nabi Sorouri	IRI	5	eliminated
=4	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA	5	eliminated
=4	Per Berlin	SWE	5	eliminated

Match #1	Nabi Sorouri	IRI	decision (3-0)	Coenraad de Villiers	RSA
Match #2	Mitsuo Ikeda	JPN	decision (3-0)	İbrahim Zengin	TUR
Match #3	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS	fall (11:45)	Per Berlin	SWE

Final Round (1 December 1956)

Match #1	İbrahim Zengin	TUR	fall (8:03)	Vakht'ang Balavadze	URS