| | Event type

Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle (≤87 kg), Men

Date	28 November – 1 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	12 from 12 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.

As a middleweight, Iran’s Gholam Reza Takhti was silver medalist at the 1951 World Championships and the 1952 Olympics. He won gold in Melbourne, starting with four victories by falls, and then a fifth-round decision to move into the final round against Soviet Boris Kulayev and American Pete Blair. Takhti had won round five by decision over Kulayev, although Kulayev had defeated him earlier in the year at the World Cup. Blair then defeated Kulayev in round one of the final, and moved on to meet Takhti for the gold medal, with Blair losing by decision, moving Kulayev up to silver.

Takhti would become Iran’s greatest wrestling champion, achieving legendary status in their most popular sport. He won another Olympic silver medal in 1960 at Roma, and was World Champion in 1959 and 1961. Kulayev would also finish second at the 1957 World Championships.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Round Eliminated	Bad Points
1	92	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	–	–	Gold
2	163	Boris Kulayev	URS	–	–	Silver
3	97	Pete Blair	USA	–	–	Bronze
4	93	Gerry Martina	IRL	–	–
=5	186	Adil Atan	TUR	–	–
=5	85	Kevin Coote	AUS	–	–
AC	96	Viking Palm	SWE	eliminated r3/7	6
AC	94	Mitsuhiro Ohira	JPN	eliminated r3/7	7
AC	95	Jan Theron	RSA	eliminated r3/7	7
AC	89	Veikko Lahti	FIN	eliminated r2/7	5
AC	88	Bob Steckle	CAN	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	90	Spyros Defteraios	GRE	withdrew r2/7	3
DNS	86	Eugen Wiesberger, Jr.	AUT	–	–
DNS	87	Petko Sirakov	BUL	–	–
DNS	91	Lila Ram	IND	–	–

Round One

Date	28 November 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	92	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	0	–
=1	93	Gerry Martina	IRL	0	–
=1	186	Adil Atan	TUR	0	–
=1	97	Pete Blair	USA	0	–
=5	85	Kevin Coote	AUS	1	–
=5	163	Boris Kulayev	URS	1	–
=7	88	Bob Steckle	CAN	3	–
=7	89	Veikko Lahti	FIN	3	–
=7	90	Spyros Defteraios	GRE	3	withdrew
=7	94	Mitsuhiro Ohira	JPN	3	–
=7	95	Jan Theron	RSA	3	–
=7	96	Viking Palm	SWE	3	–

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	28 Nov	Kevin Coote	AUS	Decision (3-0)	Bob Steckle	CAN
Match #2	28 Nov	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	Fall (7:00)	Jan Theron	RSA
Match #3	28 Nov	Pete Blair	USA	Fall (12:37)	Veikko Lahti	FIN
Match #4	28 Nov	Adil Atan	TUR	Fall (6:15)	Mitsuhiro Ohira	JPN
Match #5	28 Nov	Boris Kulayev	URS	Decision (3-0)	Viking Palm	SWE
Match #6	28 Nov	Gerry Martina	IRL	Fall (3:00)	Spyros Defteraios	GRE

Round Two

Date	29 November 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	92	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	0	–
=1	93	Gerry Martina	IRL	0	–
=3	186	Adil Atan	TUR	2	–
=3	163	Boris Kulayev	URS	2	–
5	97	Pete Blair	USA	3	–
=6	85	Kevin Coote	AUS	4	–
=6	94	Mitsuhiro Ohira	JPN	4	–
=6	95	Jan Theron	RSA	4	–
=6	96	Viking Palm	SWE	4	–
10	89	Veikko Lahti	FIN	5	eliminated
11	88	Bob Steckle	CAN	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	29 Nov	Jan Theron	RSA	Decision (3-0)	Kevin Coote	AUS
Match #2	29 Nov	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	Fall (4:46)	Bob Steckle	CAN
Match #3	29 Nov	Mitsuhiro Ohira	JPN	Decision (2-1)	Veikko Lahti	FIN
Match #4	29 Nov	Viking Palm	SWE	Decision (3-0)	Pete Blair	USA
Match #5	29 Nov	Boris Kulayev	URS	Decision (2-1)	Adil Atan	TUR
Match #6	29 Nov	Gerry Martina	IRL

Round Three

Date	30 November 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	92	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	0	–
2	163	Boris Kulayev	URS	2	–
=3	93	Gerry Martina	IRL	3	–
=3	186	Adil Atan	TUR	3	–
=3	97	Pete Blair	USA	3	–
6	85	Kevin Coote	AUS	4	–
7	96	Viking Palm	SWE	6	eliminated
=8	94	Mitsuhiro Ohira	JPN	7	eliminated
=8	95	Jan Theron	RSA	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	30 Nov	Kevin Coote	AUS	Fall (11:00)	Gerry Martina	IRL
Match #2	30 Nov	Pete Blair	USA	Fall (5:00)	Jan Theron	RSA
Match #3	30 Nov	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	Fall (3:00)	Mitsuhiro Ohira	JPN
Match #4	30 Nov	Adil Atan	TUR	Decision (2-1)	Viking Palm	SWE
Match #5	30 Nov	Boris Kulayev	URS

Round Four

Date	1 December 1956

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	92	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	0	–
2	163	Boris Kulayev	URS	2	–
3	97	Pete Blair	USA	4	–
=4	93	Gerry Martina	IRL	6	eliminated
=4	186	Adil Atan	TUR	6	eliminated
6	85	Kevin Coote	AUS	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Dec	Boris Kulayev	URS	Fall (7:55)	Gerry Martina	IRL
Match #2	01 Dec	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	Fall (3:20)	Kevin Coote	AUS
Match #3	01 Dec	Pete Blair	USA	Decision (3-0)	Adil Atan	TUR

Round Five

Date	1 December 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points
1	92	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	1
2	97	Pete Blair	USA	4
3	163	Boris Kulayev	URS	5

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Dec	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	Decision (3-0)	Boris Kulayev	URS
Match #2	01 Dec	Pete Blair	USA

Round Six

Date	1 December 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	92	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	1	–
2	163	Boris Kulayev	URS	6	eliminated
3	97	Pete Blair	USA	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Dec	Boris Kulayev	URS	Decision (3-0)	Pete Blair	USA
Match #2	01 Dec	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI

Final Round

Date	1 December 1956

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Dec	Gholam Reza Takhti	IRI	Decision (3-0)	Pete Blair	USA