| | Event type

Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kilograms), Men

Date	27 – 31 August 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Ringer-Judo-Halle, Messegelände (Halle 14), München
Participants	28 from 28 countries
Format	Scoring by negative points, with negative points given for any result short of a fall. 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.

Japan’s Hideaki Yanagida had won the 1970 and 1971 World Championships and was a slight favorite, but American Rich Sanders, 1968 Olympic silver medalist and 1969 World Champion in flyweight, was expected to challenge him. Form held, but in the fourth round Yanagida defeated Sanders by decision, which would determine the top two places. After six rounds, four wrestlers remained – Yanagida, Sanders, Hungarian László Klinga, and Indian Prem Nath. Yanagida and Sanders won their matches by falls, defeating Nath and Klinga respectively, which eliminated them, giving Yanagida the gold medal and Sanders the silver.

After the Olympics Sanders decided to vacation in Europe but seven weeks later he was killed in a car accident in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now Macedonia). Yanagida never competed again internationally. Klinga won the bronze medal in München, based on fewer bad points than Nath.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	RE	Bad Points
1	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	–	–	Gold
2	Rich Sanders	USA	–	–	Silver
3	László Klinga	HUN	–	–	Bronze
4	Prem Nath	IND	–	–
5	Ivan Shavov	BUL	–	–
6	Horst Mayer	GDR	–	–
7	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	–	–
8	Jorge Ramos	CUB	–	–
AC	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL	Eliminated r4/7	8,0
AC	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL	Eliminated r4/7	8,5
AC	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG	Eliminated r4/7	9,0
AC	Risto Darlev	YUG	Eliminated r4/7	9,0
AC	Ivan Kuleshov	URS	Eliminated r4/7	9,5
AC	Ghulam Sideer	AFG	Eliminated r3/7	7,0
AC	Nicolae Dumitru	ROU	Eliminated r3/7	7,0
AC	An Jae-Won	KOR	Eliminated r3/7	7,5
AC	Amrik Singh Gill	GBR	Eliminated r3/7	8,0
AC	Georgios Chatziioannidis	GRE	Eliminated r3/7	8,0
AC	Moisés López	MEX	Eliminated r3/7	9,0
AC	Luis Fuentes	GUA	Eliminated r2/7	6,0
AC	Ditta Allah	PAK	Eliminated r2/7	6,0
AC	Egon Beiler	CAN	Eliminated r2/7	6,5
AC	Kazım Yıldırım	TUR	Eliminated r2/7	6,5
AC	Ernst Hack	AUT	Eliminated r2/7	7,0
AC	Juan Velarde	PER	Eliminated r2/7	7,5
AC	Raymond Barry	AUS	Eliminated r2/7	8,0
AC	Arturo Tanaquin	PHI	Eliminated r2/7	8,0
AC	Hsu Chin-Hsiung	TPE	Eliminated r2/7	8,0

Round One (27 August 1972 — 10:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Ghulam Sideer	AFG	0,0
=1	László Klinga	HUN	0,0
=1	Prem Nath	IND	0,0
=1	Nicolae Dumitru	ROU	0,0
=1	Rich Sanders	USA	0,0
=6	Amrik Singh Gill	GBR	0,5
=6	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	0,5
=8	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG	1,0
=8	Ivan Shavov	BUL	1,0
=8	Jorge Ramos	CUB	1,0
=8	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	1,0
=8	Moisés López	MEX	1,0
=8	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL	1,0
=8	Ivan Kuleshov	URS	1,0
=15	Egon Beiler	CAN	3,0
=15	Horst Mayer	GDR	3,0
=15	Luis Fuentes	GUA	3,0
=15	An Jae-Won	KOR	3,0
=15	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL	3,0
=15	Ditta Allah	PAK	3,0
=15	Kazım Yıldırım	TUR	3,0
=22	Ernst Hack	AUT	3,5
=22	Juan Velarde	PER	3,5
=24	Raymond Barry	AUS	4,0
=24	Georgios Chatziioannidis	GRE	4,0
=24	Arturo Tanaquin	PHI	4,0
=24	Hsu Chin-Hsiung	TPE	4,0
=24	Risto Darlev	YUG	4,0

Match #1	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	decision	Horst Mayer	GDR
Match #2	Amrik Singh Gill	GBR	decision	Juan Velarde	PER
Match #3	Moisés López	MEX	decision	Egon Beiler	CAN
Match #4	Ivan Kuleshov	URS	decision	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL
Match #5	László Klinga	HUN	fall (1:22)	Arturo Tanaquin	PHI
Match #6	Ivan Shavov	BUL	decision	Kazım Yıldırım	TUR
Match #7	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL	decision	An Jae-Won	KOR
Match #8	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	decision	Ernst Hack	AUT
Match #9	Rich Sanders	USA	fall (5:15)	Georgios Chatziioannidis	GRE
Match #10	Nicolae Dumitru	ROU	fall (4:16)	Hsu Chin-Hsiung	TPE
Match #11	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG	decision	Luis Fuentes	GUA
Match #12	Prem Nath	IND	fall (8:37)	Raymond Barry	AUS
Match #13	Jorge Ramos	CUB	decision	Ditta Allah	PAK
Match #14	Ghulam Sideer	AFG	fall (5:47)	Risto Darlev	YUG

Round Two (28 August 1972 — 19:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Rich Sanders	USA	0,0
2	László Klinga	HUN	0,5
=3	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG	1,0
=3	Ivan Shavov	BUL	1,0
=3	Prem Nath	IND	1,0
=3	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	1,0
=3	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	1,0
8	Ivan Kuleshov	URS	1,5
9	Jorge Ramos	CUB	2,0
=10	Ghulam Sideer	AFG	3,0
=10	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL	3,0
=12	Horst Mayer	GDR	3,5
=12	An Jae-Won	KOR	3,5
=14	Amrik Singh Gill	GBR	4,0
=14	Georgios Chatziioannidis	GRE	4,0
=14	Nicolae Dumitru	ROU	4,0
17	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL	4,5
=18	Moisés López	MEX	5,0
=18	Risto Darlev	YUG	5,0
=20	Luis Fuentes	GUA	6,0	eliminated
=20	Ditta Allah	PAK	6,0	eliminated
=22	Egon Beiler	CAN	6,5	eliminated
=22	Kazım Yıldırım	TUR	6,5	eliminated
24	Ernst Hack	AUT	7,0	eliminated
25	Juan Velarde	PER	7,5	eliminated
=26	Raymond Barry	AUS	8,0	eliminated
=26	Arturo Tanaquin	PHI	8,0	eliminated
=26	Hsu Chin-Hsiung	TPE	8,0	eliminated

Match #1	Horst Mayer	GDR	decision	Amrik Singh Gill	GBR
Match #2	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	fall (5:10)	Juan Velarde	PER
Match #3	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL	fall (8:21)	Moisés López	MEX
Match #4	Ivan Kuleshov	URS	decision	Egon Beiler	CAN
Match #5	László Klinga	HUN	decision	Kazım Yıldırım	TUR
Match #6	Ivan Shavov	BUL	fall (0:57)	Arturo Tanaquin	PHI
Match #7	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	decision	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL
Match #8	An Jae-Won	KOR	decision	Ernst Hack	AUT
Match #9	Georgios Chatziioannidis	GRE	fall (3:49)	Hsu Chin-Hsiung	TPE
Match #10	Rich Sanders	USA	fall (5:34)	Nicolae Dumitru	ROU
Match #11	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG	fall (4:34)	Raymond Barry	AUS
Match #12	Prem Nath	IND	decision	Luis Fuentes	GUA
Match #13	Jorge Ramos	CUB	decision	Ghulam Sideer	AFG
Match #14	Risto Darlev	YUG	decision	Ditta Allah	PAK

Round Three (29 August 1972 — 10:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Rich Sanders	USA	0,0
=2	Ivan Shavov	BUL	1,0
=2	Prem Nath	IND	1,0
=2	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	1,0
=2	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	1,0
6	László Klinga	HUN	2,5
7	Jorge Ramos	CUB	3,0
8	Horst Mayer	GDR	3,5
9	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL	4,5
=10	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG	5,0
=10	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL	5,0
=10	Risto Darlev	YUG	5,0
13	Ivan Kuleshov	URS	5,5
=14	Ghulam Sideer	AFG	7,0	eliminated
=14	Nicolae Dumitru	ROU	7,0	eliminated
16	An Jae-Won	KOR	7,5	eliminated
=17	Amrik Singh Gill	GBR	8,0	eliminated
=17	Georgios Chatziioannidis	GRE	8,0	eliminated
19	Moisés López	MEX	9,0	eliminated

Match #1	Horst Mayer	GDR	fall (8:30)	Moisés López	MEX
Match #2	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	fall (1:25)	Amrik Singh Gill	GBR
Match #3	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL	draw	László Klinga	HUN
Match #4	Ivan Shavov	BUL	fall (1:35)	Ivan Kuleshov	URS
Match #5	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL	fall (1:16)	Georgios Chatziioannidis	GRE
Match #6	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	fall (4:20)	An Jae-Won	KOR
Match #7	Rich Sanders	USA	fall (7:32)	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG
Match #8	Jorge Ramos	CUB	decision	Nicolae Dumitru	ROU
Match #9	Prem Nath	IND	fall (6:39)	Ghulam Sideer	AFG
Match #10	Risto Darlev	YUG	bye

Round Four (30 August 1972 — 10:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Ivan Shavov	BUL	1,0
=1	Prem Nath	IND	1,0
=3	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	2,0
=3	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	2,0
5	László Klinga	HUN	2,5
=6	Jorge Ramos	CUB	3,0
=6	Rich Sanders	USA	3,0
8	Horst Mayer	GDR	3,5
9	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL	8,0	eliminated
10	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL	8,5	eliminated
=11	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG	9,0	eliminated
=11	Risto Darlev	YUG	9,0	eliminated
13	Ivan Kuleshov	URS	9,5	eliminated

Match #1	Horst Mayer	GDR	fall (5:01)	Risto Darlev	YUG
Match #2	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	decision	Megdiin Khoilogdorj	MGL
Match #3	László Klinga	HUN	fall (3:24)	Ivan Kuleshov	URS
Match #4	Ivan Shavov	BUL	fall (1:23)	Zbigniew Żedzicki	POL
Match #5	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	decision	Rich Sanders	USA
Match #6	Prem Nath	IND	fall (4:33)	Eduardo Maggiolo	ARG
Match #7	Jorge Ramos	CUB	bye

Round Five (30 August 1972 — 19:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	3,0
=1	Rich Sanders	USA	3,0
3	László Klinga	HUN	3,5
4	Ivan Shavov	BUL	4,0
5	Horst Mayer	GDR	4,5
=6	Prem Nath	IND	5,0
=6	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	5,0
8	Jorge Ramos	CUB	6,0	eliminated

Match #1	Horst Mayer	GDR	decision	Jorge Ramos	CUB
Match #2	László Klinga	HUN	decision	Ramezan Kheder	IRI
Match #3	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	decision	Ivan Shavov	BUL
Match #4	Rich Sanders	USA	fall (6:47)	Prem Nath	IND

Round Six (31 August 1972 — 10:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	4,0
=1	Rich Sanders	USA	4,0
3	László Klinga	HUN	4,5
4	Prem Nath	IND	5,0
5	Ivan Shavov	BUL	7,0	eliminated
6	Horst Mayer	GDR	7,5	eliminated
7	Ramezan Kheder	IRI	8,0	eliminated

Match #1	László Klinga	HUN	decision	Horst Mayer	GDR
Match #2	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	decision	Ramezan Kheder	IRI
Match #3	Rich Sanders	USA	decision	Ivan Shavov	BUL
Match #4	Prem Nath	IND	bye

Final Round (31 August 1972 — 10:00)

Match #1	Hideaki Yanagida	JPN	fall (5:10)	Prem Nath	IND
Match #2	Rich Sanders	USA	fall (6:38)	László Klinga	HUN