# Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman bantamweight

The men's Greco-Roman bantamweight competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne took place from 3 December to 6 December at the Royal Exhibition Building. Nations were limited to one competitor. Bantamweight was the second-lightest category, including wrestlers weighing 52 to 57 kilograms (114.6 to 125.7 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, as modified in 1952 (adding medal rounds and making all losses worth 3 points—from 1936 to 1948 losses by split decision only cost 2). 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 |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Reijo Nykänen | Finland |
| Adolfo Díaz | Argentina | Fall | Joe Sweeney | Australia |
| Francisc Horvath | Romania | Decision, 2–1 | Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union |
| Yaşar Yılmaz | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Omer Vercouteren | Belgium |
| Dinko Petrov | Bulgaria | Decision, 2–1 | Edvin Vesterby | Sweden |
| Fred Kämmerer | United Team of Germany | Decision, 2–1 | Franz Brunner | Austria |
| Kent Townley | United States | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Adolfo Díaz | Argentina | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Kent Townley | United States | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Francisc Horvath | Romania | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Fred Kämmerer | United Team of Germany | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Dinko Petrov | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Yaşar Yılmaz | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Franz Brunner | Austria | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Reijo Nykänen | Finland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Joe Sweeney | Australia | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Omer Vercouteren | Belgium | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Kent Townley | United States |
| Reijo Nykänen | Finland | Decision, 2–1 | Adolfo Díaz | Argentina |
| Francisc Horvath | Romania | Decision, 3–0 | Joe Sweeney | Australia |
| Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Yaşar Yılmaz | Turkey |
| Dinko Petrov | Bulgaria | Decision, 3–0 | Omer Vercouteren | Belgium |
| Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Franz Brunner | Austria |
| Fred Kämmerer | United Team of Germany | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Fred Kämmerer | United Team of Germany | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Francisc Horvath | Romania | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Dinko Petrov | Bulgaria | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Adolfo Díaz | Argentina | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Kent Townley | United States | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Reijo Nykänen | Finland | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Yaşar Yılmaz | Turkey | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 11 | Franz Brunner | Austria | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Joe Sweeney | Australia | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Omer Vercouteren | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Fred Kämmerer | United Team of Germany | Decision, 3–0 | Kent Townley | United States |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | Fall | Adolfo Díaz | Argentina |
| Francisc Horvath | Romania | Decision, 2–1 | Reijo Nykänen | Finland |
| Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | Fall | Dinko Petrov | Bulgaria |
| Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | Walkover | Yaşar Yılmaz | Turkey |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | Fred Kämmerer | United Team of Germany | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Francisc Horvath | Romania | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Dinko Petrov | Bulgaria | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | Adolfo Díaz | Argentina | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Kent Townley | United States | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Reijo Nykänen | Finland | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | Yaşar Yılmaz | Turkey | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 4

Vyrupayev had defeated Hódos; Kammerer had a bye while neither of the other two wrestlers tied at 5 points had one.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Francisc Horvath | Romania | Decision, 3–0 | Fred Kämmerer | United Team of Germany |
| Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Imre Hódos | Hungary |
| Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 1 | Francisc Horvath | Romania | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Fred Kämmerer | United Team of Germany | 2 | 3 | 5 |

### Medal rounds

Horvath's victory over Vyrupayev in round 1 counted for the medal rounds. The three medalists all finished 1–1 against each other. Vyrupayev had the best result within the group, with his win coming by unanimous decision as opposed to the split-decision wins of the other two medalists; he took gold. Of the two remaining wrestlers, Vesterby had defeated Horvath head-to-head and took silver. Horvath earned bronze.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | Decision, 2–1 | Francisc Horvath | Romania |
| Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Edvin Vesterby | Sweden |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses | Points |
| Konstantin Vyrupayev | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Edvin Vesterby | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Francisc Horvath | Romania | 1 | 1 | 4 |