| | Event type

Middleweight, Freestyle (≤79 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.

Iran’s Abbas Zandi was the 1954 World Champion, but he was a non-factor for a medal in Melbourne, after losing consecutive matches in rounds three and four. The finalists were Bulgaria’s Nikola Stanchev, American Dan Hodge, and Soviet Georgian Giorgi Skhirt’ladze, with the three at four bad points after round five. Hodge had competed at the 1952 Olympics and was renowned for his strength, but he lost to Stanchev by fall in 11 minutes, giving Stanchev the first gold medal ever won for Bulgaria, in any sport. Hodge won silver by then defeating Skhirt’ladze by fall, also in 11 minutes. Hodge would later have a short career as a professional boxer.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	RE	Bad Points
1	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	–	–	Gold
2	Dan Hodge	USA	–	–	Silver
3	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	–	–	Bronze
4	İsmet Atlı	TUR	–	–
=5	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	–	–
=5	Hans Sterr	GER	–	–
AC	Abbas Zandi	IRI	Eliminated r4/6	7
AC	Bengt Lindblad	SWE	Eliminated r4/6	7
AC	William Davies	AUS	Eliminated r3/6	7
AC	Bakshish Singh	IND	Eliminated r3/6	7
AC	Manie van Zyl	RSA	Eliminated r3/6	7
AC	Viljo Punkari	FIN	Withdrew r3/6	3
AC	George Farquhar	GBR	Eliminated r2/6	6
AC	Muhammad Faiz	PAK	Eliminated r2/6	6
AC	Nicolas Arcales	PHI	Eliminated r2/6	6

Round One (28 November 1956)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Viljo Punkari	FIN	0
=1	Hans Sterr	GER	0
=1	İsmet Atlı	TUR	0
=1	Dan Hodge	USA	0
=5	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	1
=5	Bakshish Singh	IND	1
=5	Abbas Zandi	IRI	1
=5	Bengt Lindblad	SWE	1
=9	William Davies	AUS	3
=9	George Farquhar	GBR	3
=9	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	3
=9	Muhammad Faiz	PAK	3
=9	Nicolas Arcales	PHI	3
=9	Manie van Zyl	RSA	3
=9	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	3

Match #1	Viljo Punkari	FIN	fall (4:00)	Muhammad Faiz	PAK
Match #2	Dan Hodge	USA	fall (4:15)	George Farquhar	GBR
Match #3	Bakshish Singh	IND	decision (3-0)	William Davies	AUS
Match #4	Bengt Lindblad	SWE	decision (3-0)	Manie van Zyl	RSA
Match #5	Hans Sterr	GER	fall (9:50)	Nicolas Arcales	PHI
Match #6	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	decision (3-0)	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS
Match #7	Abbas Zandi	IRI	decision (3-0)	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN
Match #8	İsmet Atlı	TUR	bye

Round Two (29 November 1956 — -)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Hans Sterr	GER	0
=1	İsmet Atlı	TUR	0
=3	Abbas Zandi	IRI	1
=3	Dan Hodge	USA	1
=5	Viljo Punkari	FIN	3
=5	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	3
=5	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	3
=8	William Davies	AUS	4
=8	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	4
=8	Bakshish Singh	IND	4
=8	Manie van Zyl	RSA	4
=8	Bengt Lindblad	SWE	4
=13	George Farquhar	GBR	6	eliminated
=13	Muhammad Faiz	PAK	6	eliminated
=13	Nicolas Arcales	PHI	6	eliminated

Match #1	İsmet Atlı	TUR	fall (5:00)	Muhammad Faiz	PAK
Match #2	Dan Hodge	USA	decision (3-0)	Viljo Punkari	FIN
Match #3	William Davies	AUS	decision (3-0)	George Farquhar	GBR
Match #4	Manie van Zyl	RSA	decision (3-0)	Bakshish Singh	IND
Match #5	Hans Sterr	GER	fall (7:00)	Bengt Lindblad	SWE
Match #6	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	fall (2:15)	Nicolas Arcales	PHI
Match #7	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	fall (12:00)	Nikola Stanchev	BUL
Match #8	Abbas Zandi	IRI	bye

Round Three (30 November 1956 — -)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	İsmet Atlı	TUR	1
=1	Dan Hodge	USA	1
=3	Hans Sterr	GER	3
=3	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	3
=3	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	3
=6	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	4
=6	Abbas Zandi	IRI	4
=6	Bengt Lindblad	SWE	4
=9	William Davies	AUS	7	eliminated
=9	Bakshish Singh	IND	7	eliminated
=9	Manie van Zyl	RSA	7	eliminated

Match #1	İsmet Atlı	TUR	decision (3-0)	Abbas Zandi	IRI
Match #2	Dan Hodge	USA	fall (4:45)	William Davies	AUS
Match #3	Bengt Lindblad	SWE	fall (3:55)	Bakshish Singh	IND
Match #4	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	fall (4:10)	Manie van Zyl	RSA
Match #5	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	fall (4:23)	Hans Sterr	GER
Match #6	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	bye

Round Four (1 December 1956)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Dan Hodge	USA	1
2	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	3
=3	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	4
=3	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	4
=3	İsmet Atlı	TUR	4
6	Hans Sterr	GER	6	eliminated
=7	Abbas Zandi	IRI	7	eliminated
=7	Bengt Lindblad	SWE	7	eliminated

Match #1	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	decision (3-0)	İsmet Atlı	TUR
Match #2	Dan Hodge	USA	fall (13:15)	Abbas Zandi	IRI
Match #3	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	fall (14:50)	Bengt Lindblad	SWE
Match #4	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	fall (7:40)	Hans Sterr	GER

Round Five (1 December 1956 — -)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	4
=1	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	4
=1	Dan Hodge	USA	4
4	İsmet Atlı	TUR	6	eliminated

Match #1	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS	decision (2-1)	İsmet Atlı	TUR
Match #2	Nikola Stanchev	BUL	fall (11:00)	Dan Hodge	USA

Final Round (1 December 1956)

Match #1	Dan Hodge	USA	fall (11:00)	Giorgi Skhirt'ladze	URS