| | Event type

Lightweight, Freestyle (≤68 kilograms), Men

Date	27 – 31 July 1976
Status	Olympic
Location	Aréna Maurice-Richard, Montréal, Québec / Centre Pierre-Charbonneau, Parc olympique, Montréal, Québec
Participants	24 from 24 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, but a wrestler could not be eliminated after a victory. When three or fewer wrestlers remained, they advanced to a final round, with preliminary results carried forward.

Soviet Pavel Pinigin came in as the favorite, having won the 1975 World and European Championships (as a welterweight), and he won the gold medal in Montréal, but he shouldn’t have. The class was dominated by American Butch Keaser who, before the final round, won one match by superior decision, and the others by falls or disqualifications. He came into the final with 0 bad points, and then defeated Doncho Zhekov by decision, 9-5. The American coaches told Keaser, the 1973 World Champion, that all he needed to do to win the gold medal was to avoid being pinned by Pinigin, so he wrestled defensively and stayed away, losing the match 12-1, but thinking he had still won the gold medal. Unfortunately, the American coaches had it wrong, and the decisive loss gave Pinigin the gold medal, with Kaeser dropping to silver. Pinigin would go on to win World titles again in 1977-78 and placed fourth in 1980 at Moskva as a welterweight.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	RE	Bad Points
1	Pavel Pinigin	URS	–	–	Gold
2	Butch Keaser	USA	–	–	Silver
3	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	–	–	Bronze
4	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	–	–
5	José Ramos	CUB	–	–
6	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	–	–
7	Rami Miron	ISR	–	–
8	Eberhard Probst	GDR	–	–
AC	János Kocsis	HUN	Eliminated r4/6	7,0
AC	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS	Eliminated r4/6	8,0
AC	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI	Eliminated r4/6	8,0
AC	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG	Eliminated r4/6	8,5
AC	Go Jin-Won	KOR	Eliminated r3/6	6,0
AC	Rafael González	PUR	Eliminated r3/6	7,0
AC	Sergio Fiszman	ARG	Eliminated r3/6	8,0
AC	Joe Gilligan	GBR	Eliminated r3/6	8,0
AC	Lennart Lundell	SWE	Eliminated r3/6	9,0
AC	Mehmet Sarı	TUR	Eliminated r2/6	6,0
AC	Clive Llewellyn	CAN	Eliminated r2/6	7,0
AC	Šaban Sejdi	YUG	Eliminated r2/6	7,0
AC	Kari Övermark	FIN	Eliminated r2/6	7,5
AC	Ronald Joseph	ISV	Eliminated r2/6	8,0
AC	Segundo Olmedo	PAN	Eliminated r2/6	8,0
AC	Arona Mané	SEN	Eliminated r2/6	8,0

Round One (27 July 1976 — 12:49)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	José Ramos	CUB	0,0
=1	Joe Gilligan	GBR	0,0
=1	Eberhard Probst	GDR	0,0
=1	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI	0,0
=1	Rami Miron	ISR	0,0
=1	Go Jin-Won	KOR	0,0
=1	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	0,0
=1	Butch Keaser	USA	0,0
=9	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	1,0
=9	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	1,0
=9	Lennart Lundell	SWE	1,0
=9	Pavel Pinigin	URS	1,0
=13	János Kocsis	HUN	3,0
=13	Rafael González	PUR	3,0
=13	Mehmet Sarı	TUR	3,0
=13	Šaban Sejdi	YUG	3,0
=17	Sergio Fiszman	ARG	4,0
=17	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS	4,0
=17	Clive Llewellyn	CAN	4,0
=17	Kari Övermark	FIN	4,0
=17	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG	4,0
=17	Ronald Joseph	ISV	4,0
=17	Segundo Olmedo	PAN	4,0
=17	Arona Mané	SEN	4,0

Match #1	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	decision (21-6)	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS
Match #2	Go Jin-Won	KOR	fall (2:43)	Segundo Olmedo	PAN
Match #3	Lennart Lundell	SWE	decision (16-13)	Rafael González	PUR
Match #4	Rami Miron	ISR	fall (2:09)	Ronald Joseph	ISV
Match #5	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	decision (9-4)	János Kocsis	HUN
Match #6	José Ramos	CUB	fall (7:19)	Clive Llewellyn	CAN
Match #7	Eberhard Probst	GDR	fall (1:32)	Arona Mané	SEN
Match #8	Joe Gilligan	GBR	fall (2:30)	Sergio Fiszman	ARG
Match #9	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI	decision (19-7)	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG
Match #10	Butch Keaser	USA	decision (20-4)	Kari Övermark	FIN
Match #11	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	decision (8-7)	Mehmet Sarı	TUR
Match #12	Pavel Pinigin	URS	decision (8-3)	Šaban Sejdi	YUG

Round Two (28 July 1976 — 12:25)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Eberhard Probst	GDR	0,0
=1	Rami Miron	ISR	0,0
=1	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	0,0
=1	Butch Keaser	USA	0,0
=5	José Ramos	CUB	1,0
=5	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	1,0
7	Pavel Pinigin	URS	2,0
=8	Go Jin-Won	KOR	3,0
=8	Rafael González	PUR	3,0
=10	Sergio Fiszman	ARG	4,0
=10	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	4,0
=10	Joe Gilligan	GBR	4,0
=10	János Kocsis	HUN	4,0
=10	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI	4,0
15	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG	4,5
=16	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS	5,0
=16	Lennart Lundell	SWE	5,0
18	Mehmet Sarı	TUR	6,0	eliminated
=19	Clive Llewellyn	CAN	7,0	eliminated
=19	Šaban Sejdi	YUG	7,0	eliminated
21	Kari Övermark	FIN	7,5	eliminated
=22	Ronald Joseph	ISV	8,0	eliminated
=22	Segundo Olmedo	PAN	8,0	eliminated
=22	Arona Mané	SEN	8,0	eliminated

Match #1	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	decision (19-4)	Segundo Olmedo	PAN
Match #2	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS	decision (11-8)	Go Jin-Won	KOR
Match #3	Rafael González	PUR	fall (2:08)	Ronald Joseph	ISV
Match #4	Rami Miron	ISR	decision (16-3)	Lennart Lundell	SWE
Match #5	José Ramos	CUB	decision (9-4)	Doncho Zhekov	BUL
Match #6	János Kocsis	HUN	decision (7-5)	Clive Llewellyn	CAN
Match #7	Eberhard Probst	GDR	fall (4:51)	Joe Gilligan	GBR
Match #8	Sergio Fiszman	ARG	fall (4:49)	Arona Mané	SEN
Match #9	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG	decision (24-14)	Kari Övermark	FIN
Match #10	Butch Keaser	USA	fall (6:40)	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI
Match #11	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	fall (2:31)	Šaban Sejdi	YUG
Match #12	Pavel Pinigin	URS	decision (10-3)	Mehmet Sarı	TUR

Round Three (29 July 1976 — 12:25)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Butch Keaser	USA	0,0
2	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	1,0
=3	José Ramos	CUB	2,0
=3	Pavel Pinigin	URS	2,0
5	Eberhard Probst	GDR	3,0
=6	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	4,0
=6	János Kocsis	HUN	4,0
=6	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI	4,0
=6	Rami Miron	ISR	4,0
10	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG	4,5
=11	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS	5,0
=11	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	5,0
13	Go Jin-Won	KOR	6,0	eliminated
14	Rafael González	PUR	7,0	eliminated
=15	Sergio Fiszman	ARG	8,0	eliminated
=15	Joe Gilligan	GBR	8,0	eliminated
17	Lennart Lundell	SWE	9,0	eliminated

Match #1	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	decision (9-6)	Go Jin-Won	KOR
Match #2	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS	fall (1:48)	Rafael González	PUR
Match #3	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	decision (17-3)	Lennart Lundell	SWE
Match #4	János Kocsis	HUN	DQ (7:42)	Rami Miron	ISR
Match #5	José Ramos	CUB	decision (10-8)	Eberhard Probst	GDR
Match #6	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG	fall (5:56)	Joe Gilligan	GBR
Match #7	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI	fall (4:44)	Sergio Fiszman	ARG
Match #8	Butch Keaser	USA	DQ (4:21)	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN
Match #9	Pavel Pinigin	URS	bye

Round Four (29 July 1976 — 21:09)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Butch Keaser	USA	0,0
=2	José Ramos	CUB	3,0
=2	Pavel Pinigin	URS	3,0
4	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	4,0
5	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	4,5
=6	Rami Miron	ISR	5,0
=6	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	5,0
8	Eberhard Probst	GDR	6,5	eliminated
9	János Kocsis	HUN	7,0	eliminated
=10	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS	8,0	eliminated
=10	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI	8,0	eliminated
12	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG	8,5	eliminated

Match #1	Pavel Pinigin	URS	decision (4-3)	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL
Match #2	Rami Miron	ISR	decision (7-4)	Zsigmond Kelevitz	AUS
Match #3	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	decision (13-5)	Eberhard Probst	GDR
Match #4	José Ramos	CUB	decision (8-3)	János Kocsis	HUN
Match #5	Butch Keaser	USA	fall (1:55)	Gerhard Weisenberger	FRG
Match #6	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	decision (16-4)	Mohamed Reza Navaie	IRI

Round Five (30 July 1976 — 16:05)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Butch Keaser	USA	0,0
2	Pavel Pinigin	URS	3,0
3	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	5,0
4	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	5,5
=5	José Ramos	CUB	7,0	eliminated
=5	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL	7,0	eliminated
7	Rami Miron	ISR	9,0	eliminated

Match #1	Pavel Pinigin	URS	DQ (7:06)	Rami Miron	ISR
Match #2	Doncho Zhekov	BUL	criteria (7-7)	Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj	MGL
Match #3	Butch Keaser	USA	DQ (7:47)	José Ramos	CUB
Match #4	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	bye

Final Round (31 July 1976 — 21:20)

Match #1	Yasaburo Sugawara	JPN	criteria (5-5)	Pavel Pinigin	URS
Match #2	Butch Keaser	USA	decision (9-5)	Doncho Zhekov	BUL
Match #3	Pavel Pinigin	URS	decision (12-1)	Butch Keaser	USA