| | Event type

Welterweight, Greco-Roman (≤78 kg), Men

Date	23 – 26 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Pista de Hielo Insurgentes, Ciudad de México
Participants	22 from 22 countries
Format	Scoring by negative points, with negative points given for any result short of a fall (win by fall-0.0; win by superior decision-0.5; win by decision-1.0; draw-2.5; loss by decision-3.0; loss by superior decision-3.5; loss by fall-4.0). Accumulation of 6 negative points eliminated the wrestler. When three or fewer wrestlers remained, they advanced to a final round, with preliminary results carried forward.

Soviet Viktor Igumenov had won the 1966-67 World Championships, his first two of five consecutive, and he came into Mexico City as a heavy favorite. He won his first two bouts by decision but then lost on a fall in 1:39 to Norwegian Harald Barlie, and Igumenov was eliminated on bad points. This left the event wide open. The medalists came down to East German Rudolf Vesper, Hungarian Károly Bajkó, and France’s Daniel Robin, who had already won a silver medal in Mexico City in freestyle. These three remained after round five, when Vesper and Robin won their matches and Bajkó had a bye. This made them the finalists, but no matches were necessary as Vesper had already beaten Robin, and drawn with Bajkó, and Robin had defeated Bajkó, giving the gold medal to Vesper, with Robin winning his second silver medal in 1968 wrestling. Robin’s two medals made him one of only 13 Olympic wrestlers to win medals in both styles at the Olympics, and one of only two, along with Swede Rudolf Svensson in 1924, to win two silver medals.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Round Eliminated	Bad Points
1	21	Rudolf Vesper	GDR	–	–	Gold
2	18	Daniel Robin	FRA	–	–	Silver
3	20	Károly Bajkó	HUN	–	–	Bronze
4	10	Metodi Zarev	BUL	–	–
5	11	Ion Țăranu	ROU	–	–
6	6	Jan Kårström	SWE	–	–
AC	14	Franz Berger	AUT	eliminated r4/5	7.0
AC	7	Harald Barlie	NOR	eliminated r4/5	7.0
AC	4	Milan Nenadić	YUG	eliminated r4/5	7.0
AC	9	Viktor Igumenov	URS	eliminated r3/5	6.0
AC	1	Dimitrios Savvas	GRE	eliminated r3/5	6.5
AC	2	Adam Ostrowski	POL	eliminated r3/5	6.5
AC	8	Sırrı Acar	TUR	eliminated r3/5	6.5
AC	13	Peter Nettekoven	FRG	eliminated r3/5	8.0
AC	15	Mahmoud Balah	SYR	withdrew r3/5	4.0
AC	16	Toshiro Tashiro	JPN	eliminated r2/5	6.5
AC	3	Larry Lyden	USA	eliminated r2/5	6.5
AC	5	Jimmy Martinetti	SUI	eliminated r2/5	7.0
AC	12	Brian Heffel	CAN	eliminated r2/5	8.0
AC	22	Daniel Alba	MEX	eliminated r2/5	8.0
AC	17	Wesley O'Brien	AUS	withdrew r2/5	4.0
AC	19	Pentti Salo	FIN	withdrew r2/5	4.0
DNS	–	Reg Marsh	AUS	–	–

Round One

Date	23 October 1968

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	18	Daniel Robin	FRA	0.0	–
=1	21	Rudolf Vesper	GDR	0.0	–
=1	20	Károly Bajkó	HUN	0.0	–
=1	11	Ion Țăranu	ROU	0.0	–
=1	6	Jan Kårström	SWE	0.0	–
6	4	Milan Nenadić	YUG	0.5	–
=7	14	Franz Berger	AUT	1.0	–
=7	15	Mahmoud Balah	SYR	1.0	–
=7	8	Sırrı Acar	TUR	1.0	–
=7	9	Viktor Igumenov	URS	1.0	–
=11	1	Dimitrios Savvas	GRE	2.5	–
=11	2	Adam Ostrowski	POL	2.5	–
=13	10	Metodi Zarev	BUL	3.0	–
=13	13	Peter Nettekoven	FRG	3.0	–
=13	16	Toshiro Tashiro	JPN	3.0	–
=13	7	Harald Barlie	NOR	3.0	–
17	3	Larry Lyden	USA	3.5	–
=18	17	Wesley O'Brien	AUS	4.0	withdrew
=18	12	Brian Heffel	CAN	4.0	–
=18	19	Pentti Salo	FIN	4.0	withdrew
=18	22	Daniel Alba	MEX	4.0	–
=18	5	Jimmy Martinetti	SUI	4.0	–

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Oct	Dimitrios Savvas	GRE	Draw	Adam Ostrowski	POL
Match #2	23 Oct	Milan Nenadić	YUG	Superiority	Larry Lyden	USA
Match #3	23 Oct	Jan Kårström	SWE	Fall (1:40)	Jimmy Martinetti	SUI
Match #4	23 Oct	Sırrı Acar	TUR	Decision	Harald Barlie	NOR
Match #5	23 Oct	Viktor Igumenov	URS	Decision	Metodi Zarev	BUL
Match #6	23 Oct	Ion Țăranu	ROU	Dq	Brian Heffel	CAN
Match #7	23 Oct	Franz Berger	AUT	Decision	Peter Nettekoven	FRG
Match #8	23 Oct	Mahmoud Balah	SYR	Decision	Toshiro Tashiro	JPN
Match #9	23 Oct	Daniel Robin	FRA	Fall (2:04)	Wesley O'Brien	AUS
Match #10	23 Oct	Károly Bajkó	HUN	Injury	Pentti Salo	FIN
Match #11	23 Oct	Rudolf Vesper	GDR	Fall (2:05)	Daniel Alba	MEX

Round Two

Date	24 October 1968

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	20	Károly Bajkó	HUN	0.0	–
2	21	Rudolf Vesper	GDR	1.0	–
3	14	Franz Berger	AUT	1.5	–
4	9	Viktor Igumenov	URS	2.0	–
5	6	Jan Kårström	SWE	2.5	–
=6	10	Metodi Zarev	BUL	3.0	–
=6	18	Daniel Robin	FRA	3.0	–
=6	11	Ion Țăranu	ROU	3.0	–
=9	1	Dimitrios Savvas	GRE	3.5	–
=9	2	Adam Ostrowski	POL	3.5	–
=9	8	Sırrı Acar	TUR	3.5	–
=9	4	Milan Nenadić	YUG	3.5	–
=13	13	Peter Nettekoven	FRG	4.0	–
=13	7	Harald Barlie	NOR	4.0	–
=13	15	Mahmoud Balah	SYR	4.0	–
=16	16	Toshiro Tashiro	JPN	6.5	eliminated
=16	3	Larry Lyden	USA	6.5	eliminated
18	5	Jimmy Martinetti	SUI	7.0	eliminated
=19	12	Brian Heffel	CAN	8.0	eliminated
=19	22	Daniel Alba	MEX	8.0	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	24 Oct	Dimitrios Savvas	GRE	Decision	Larry Lyden	USA
Match #2	24 Oct	Adam Ostrowski	POL	Decision	Milan Nenadić	YUG
Match #3	24 Oct	Harald Barlie	NOR	Decision	Jimmy Martinetti	SUI
Match #4	24 Oct	Jan Kårström	SWE	Draw	Sırrı Acar	TUR
Match #5	24 Oct	Viktor Igumenov	URS	Decision	Ion Țăranu	ROU
Match #6	24 Oct	Metodi Zarev	BUL	Fall (1:25)	Brian Heffel	CAN
Match #7	24 Oct	Peter Nettekoven	FRG	Decision	Mahmoud Balah	SYR
Match #8	24 Oct	Franz Berger	AUT	Superiority	Toshiro Tashiro	JPN
Match #9	24 Oct	Rudolf Vesper	GDR	Decision	Daniel Robin	FRA
Match #10	24 Oct	Károly Bajkó	HUN	Fall (1:06)	Daniel Alba	MEX

Round Three

Date	25 October 1968

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	20	Károly Bajkó	HUN	2.5	–
2	11	Ion Țăranu	ROU	3.0	–
=3	21	Rudolf Vesper	GDR	3.5	–
=3	6	Jan Kårström	SWE	3.5	–
=5	10	Metodi Zarev	BUL	4.0	–
=5	18	Daniel Robin	FRA	4.0	–
=5	7	Harald Barlie	NOR	4.0	–
=8	14	Franz Berger	AUT	4.5	–
=8	4	Milan Nenadić	YUG	4.5	–
10	9	Viktor Igumenov	URS	6.0	eliminated
=11	1	Dimitrios Savvas	GRE	6.5	eliminated
=11	2	Adam Ostrowski	POL	6.5	eliminated
=11	8	Sırrı Acar	TUR	6.5	eliminated
14	13	Peter Nettekoven	FRG	8.0	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	25 Oct	Milan Nenadić	YUG	Decision	Dimitrios Savvas	GRE
Match #2	25 Oct	Jan Kårström	SWE	Decision	Adam Ostrowski	POL
Match #3	25 Oct	Harald Barlie	NOR	Fall (1:39)	Viktor Igumenov	URS
Match #4	25 Oct	Metodi Zarev	BUL	Decision	Sırrı Acar	TUR
Match #5	25 Oct	Ion Țăranu	ROU	Fall (6:07)	Peter Nettekoven	FRG
Match #6	25 Oct	Daniel Robin	FRA	Decision	Franz Berger	AUT
Match #7	25 Oct	Károly Bajkó	HUN	Draw	Rudolf Vesper	GDR

Round Four

Date	26 October 1968

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	21	Rudolf Vesper	GDR	3.5	–
=2	10	Metodi Zarev	BUL	5.0	–
=2	18	Daniel Robin	FRA	5.0	–
=4	20	Károly Bajkó	HUN	5.5	–
=4	11	Ion Țăranu	ROU	5.5	–
6	6	Jan Kårström	SWE	6.0	eliminated
=7	14	Franz Berger	AUT	7.0	eliminated
=7	7	Harald Barlie	NOR	7.0	eliminated
=7	4	Milan Nenadić	YUG	7.0	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	26 Oct	Milan Nenadić	YUG	Draw	Jan Kårström	SWE
Match #2	26 Oct	Metodi Zarev	BUL	Decision	Harald Barlie	NOR
Match #3	26 Oct	Ion Țăranu	ROU	Draw	Franz Berger	AUT
Match #4	26 Oct	Daniel Robin	FRA	Decision	Károly Bajkó	HUN
Match #5	26 Oct	Rudolf Vesper	GDR

Final Round

Date	26 October 1968

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	26 Oct	Rudolf Vesper	GDR	Decision	Metodi Zarev	BUL
Match #2	26 Oct	Daniel Robin	FRA	Fall (10:31)	Ion Țăranu	ROU
Match #3	26 Oct	Károly Bajkó	HUN