| | Event type

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

Date	3 – 6 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	10 from 10 countries
Format	Elimination by bad points. Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss by 2-1 decision = 3 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.

Soviet Georgian Givi K’art’ozia was the heavy favorite in this class. He was first noticed internationally at the 1951 World Festival of Youth and Students, where he won gold in Greco-Roman middleweight, repeating in 1953. K’art’ozia won the 1956 World Cup and the 1953 and 1955 World Championships. With only 10 entrants in this class, he had to win only four matches to win the 1956 gold medal, which he did easily. The silver medal went to Bulgaria’s Dimitar Dobrev, while Sweden’s Rune Jansson won bronze. Jansson had won his second round match against Finland’s Viljo Punkari by fall in only 11 seconds, the fastest pin in Olympic history.

K’art’ozia would win the 1958 World title in middleweight and then moved up to light-heavyweight, winning a silver medal in that class at the 1960 Olympics. Dobrev would also return in 1960 and won the gold medal in this class.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Round Eliminated	Bad Points
1	174	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	–	–	Gold
2	140	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL	–	–	Silver
3	156	Rune Jansson	SWE	–	–	Bronze
4	75	Hans Sterr	GER	–	–
5	141	György Gurics	HUN	–	–
6	74	Viljo Punkari	FIN	–	–
AC	142	Jim Peckham	USA	eliminated r3/5	5
AC	139	Wally Paterson	AUS	eliminated r2/5	6
AC	185	İsmet Atlı	TUR	eliminated r2/5	6
AC	143	Branislav Simić	YUG	withdrew r2/5	3
DNS	79	Kazuo Katsuramoto	JPN	–	–

Round One

Date	3 December 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	140	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL	0	–
=1	74	Viljo Punkari	FIN	0	–
=1	75	Hans Sterr	GER	0	–
=4	141	György Gurics	HUN	1	–
=4	174	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	1	–
6	142	Jim Peckham	USA	2	–
=7	139	Wally Paterson	AUS	3	–
=7	156	Rune Jansson	SWE	3	–
=7	185	İsmet Atlı	TUR	3	–
=7	143	Branislav Simić	YUG	3	withdrew

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	03 Dec	Viljo Punkari	FIN	Fall (2:58)	Wally Paterson	AUS
Match #2	03 Dec	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	Decision (3-0)	Rune Jansson	SWE
Match #3	03 Dec	György Gurics	HUN	Decision (2-1)	Jim Peckham	USA
Match #4	03 Dec	Hans Sterr	GER	Fall (8:15)	İsmet Atlı	TUR
Match #5	03 Dec	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL	Fall (9:42)	Branislav Simić	YUG

Round Two

Date	4 December 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	140	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL	0	–
2	174	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	1	–
=3	75	Hans Sterr	GER	2	–
=3	141	György Gurics	HUN	2	–
=5	74	Viljo Punkari	FIN	3	–
=5	156	Rune Jansson	SWE	3	–
=5	142	Jim Peckham	USA	3	–
=8	139	Wally Paterson	AUS	6	eliminated
=8	185	İsmet Atlı	TUR	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	04 Dec	Rune Jansson	SWE	Fall (0:11)	Viljo Punkari	FIN
Match #2	04 Dec	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	Fall (3:00)	Wally Paterson	AUS
Match #3	04 Dec	Jim Peckham	USA	Decision (2-1)	Hans Sterr	GER
Match #4	04 Dec	György Gurics	HUN	Decision (3-0)	İsmet Atlı	TUR
Match #5	04 Dec	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL

Round Three

Date	5 December 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	140	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL	1	–
=2	75	Hans Sterr	GER	2	–
=2	174	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	2	–
4	156	Rune Jansson	SWE	4	–
=5	74	Viljo Punkari	FIN	5	eliminated
=5	141	György Gurics	HUN	5	eliminated
=5	142	Jim Peckham	USA	5	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	05 Dec	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL	Decision (2-1)	Viljo Punkari	FIN
Match #2	05 Dec	Rune Jansson	SWE	Decision (2-1)	Jim Peckham	USA
Match #3	05 Dec	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	Decision (3-0)	György Gurics	HUN
Match #4	05 Dec	Hans Sterr	GER

Round Four

Date	6 December 1956 — -

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	140	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL	3	–
=1	174	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	3	–
=3	75	Hans Sterr	GER	5	eliminated
=3	156	Rune Jansson	SWE	5	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	06 Dec	Rune Jansson	SWE	Decision (3-0)	Hans Sterr	GER
Match #2	06 Dec	Givi K'art'ozia	URS	Decision (2-1)	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL

Final Round

Date	6 December 1956

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	06 Dec	Dimitar Dobrev	BUL	Decision (3-0)	Rune Jansson	SWE