Welterweight, Freestyle (≤74 kg), Men

The best wrestler in this class was American Leroy Kemp, the 1978-79 World Champion and 1979 Pan American Games Champion, but he could not compete because of the boycott. The 1980 European Champion was West German Martin Knosp, who was also boycotted out. In their absence Valentin Raychev won the gold medal, but it took him eight matches to do so. In round six, he threw Soviet Pavel Pinigin, 1976 Olympic lightweight gold medalist, which eliminated Pinigin, who placed fourth. In the final round Raychev won the gold medal by winning decisions over Mongolian Jamtsyn Davaajav and Czechoslovak Dan Karabin.

Kemp went on to win the 1982 World Championships and the 1983 Pan American Games. He was then surpassed by American Dave Schultz, however, who won the 1983 Worlds and a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, defeating Kemp in the US Trials, as Kemp never got to wrestle at the Olympics. Knosp would win the 1981 World title, with Raychev second and Kemp third, and Knosp would win a silver medal in this class at the 1984 Olympics, behind Schultz.