# Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman middleweight

The men's Greco-Roman middleweight competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki took place from 24 July to 27 July at Messuhalli. Nations were limited to one competitor. Middleweight was the third-heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing 73 to 79 kilograms (160.9 to 174.2 lb).

## Competition format

This Greco-Roman wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman and at the 1932 Summer Olympics for freestyle wrestling, removing the slight modification introduced in 1936 and used until 1948 (which had a reduced penalty for a loss by 2–1 decision). Each round featured all wrestlers pairing off and wrestling one bout (with one wrestler having a bye if there were an odd number). The loser received 3 points. The winner received 1 point if the win was by decision and 0 points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least 5 points was eliminated. This elimination continued until the medal rounds, which began when 3 wrestlers remained. These 3 wrestlers each faced each other in a round-robin medal round (with earlier results counting, if any had wrestled another before); record within the medal round determined medals, with bad points breaking ties.

## Results
### Round 1
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Gustav Gocke | Germany | Decision, 2–1 | Ercole Gallegati | Italy |
| Axel Grönberg | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Kalervo Rauhala | Finland |
| Ali Özdemir | Turkey | Decision, 2–1 | Adel Ibrahim Moustafa | Egypt |
| Gyula Németi | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Lars Bilet | Norway |
| Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union | Fall | Jerzy Gryt | Poland |
| Émile Courtois | Belgium | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Émile Courtois | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Gustav Gocke | Germany | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Axel Grönberg | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Gyula Németi | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Ali Özdemir | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Lars Bilet | Norway | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Ercole Gallegati | Italy | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Jerzy Gryt | Poland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Adel Ibrahim Moustafa | Egypt | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Ercole Gallegati | Italy | Fall | Émile Courtois | Belgium |
| Axel Grönberg | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Gustav Gocke | Germany |
| Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | Decision, 3–0 | Adel Ibrahim Moustafa | Egypt |
| Ali Özdemir | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Lars Bilet | Norway |
| Gyula Németi | Hungary | Fall | Jerzy Gryt | Poland |
| Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Gyula Németi | Hungary | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Axel Grönberg | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Ali Özdemir | Turkey | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Émile Courtois | Belgium | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Ercole Gallegati | Italy | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Gustav Gocke | Germany | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Lars Bilet | Norway | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Jerzy Gryt | Poland | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Adel Ibrahim Moustafa | Egypt | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union | Walkover | Émile Courtois | Belgium |
| Axel Grönberg | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Ercole Gallegati | Italy |
| Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | Fall | Gustav Gocke | Germany |
| Gyula Németi | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Ali Özdemir | Turkey |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Gyula Németi | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Axel Grönberg | Sweden | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Ali Özdemir | Turkey | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | Émile Courtois | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | Ercole Gallegati | Italy | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Gustav Gocke | Germany | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 4

The tie for third-place was broken by head-to-head results, with Rauhala advancing to the medal rounds due to his win over Németi in this round.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Axel Grönberg | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union |
| Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | Decision, 3–0 | Gyula Németi | Hungary |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Axel Grönberg | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Gyula Németi | Hungary | 2 | 3 | 5 |

### Medal rounds

Grönberg's victorys over Rauhala (in round 1) and Belov (in round 2) counted for the medal round, giving him the gold medal. Rauhala and Belov faced off for the silver medal, which Rahuala won.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | Decision, 3–0 | Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses | Start | Earned | Total |
| Axel Grönberg | Sweden | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Kalervo Rauhala | Finland | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Nikolay Belov | Soviet Union | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 |