# Wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman 48 kg

The Men's Greco-Roman 48 kg at the 1972 Summer Olympics as part of the wrestling program at the Fairgrounds, Judo and Wrestling Hall.

## Medalists

| Gold | Gheorghe Berceanu Romania |
| Silver | Rahim Aliabadi Iran |
| Bronze | Stefan Angelov Bulgaria |

## Tournament results

The competition used a form of negative points tournament, with negative points given for any result short of a fall. Accumulation of 6 negative points eliminated the wrestler. When only two or three wrestlers remain, a special final round is used to determine the order of the medals.

### Legend

* DNA — Did not appear
* TPP — Total penalty points
* MPP — Match penalty points

### Penalties

* 0 — Won by Fall, Passivity, Injury and Forfeit
* 0.5 — Won by Technical Superiority
* 1 — Won by Points
* 2 — Draw
* 2.5 — Draw, Passivity
* 3 — Lost by Points
* 3.5 — Lost by Technical Superiority
* 4 — Lost by Fall, Passivity, Injury and Forfeit

### Round 1

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 4 | 4 | Habib Dlimi (TUN) | 8:19 | Mohamed El-Malky Ragheb (EGY) | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | Rahim Aliabadi (IRI) | 6:54 | Hızır Sarı (TUR) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Wayne Holmes (USA) | 4:25 | Bernd Drechsel (GDR) | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Ferenc Seres (HUN) | 7:43 | Gheorghe Berceanu (ROU) | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Vladimir Zubkov (URS) | 8:50 | Stefan Angelov (BUL) | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Ochirdolgoryn Enkhtaivan (MGL) | | Lennarth Svensson (SWE) | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | Lorenzo Calafiore (ITA) | | Bernard Szczepański (POL) | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Mohieddin El-Sas (SYR) | 6:43 | Alfredo Olvera (MEX) | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Sotiris Ventas (GRE) | | Raimo Hirvonen (FIN) | 1 | 1 |
| 0.5 | 0.5 | Kazuharu Ishida (JPN) | | Günther Maas (FRG) | 3.5 | 3.5 |

### Round 2

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 8 | 4 | Habib Dlimi (TUN) | 6:58 | Rahim Aliabadi (IRI) | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 1 | Hızır Sarı (TUR) | | Wayne Holmes (USA) | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 4 | Bernd Drechsel (GDR) | 1:08 | Ferenc Seres (HUN) | 0 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | Gheorghe Berceanu (ROU) | 8:09 | Vladimir Zubkov (URS) | 4 | 8 |
| 0.5 | 0.5 | Stefan Angelov (BUL) | | Lennarth Svensson (SWE) | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| 1 | 0 | Lorenzo Calafiore (ITA) | 3:56 | Alfredo Olvera (MEX) | 4 | 4 |
| 7 | 4 | Bernard Szczepański (POL) | 1:32 | Sotirios Ventas (GRE) | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | 1 | Raimo Hirvonen (FIN) | | Kazuharu Ishida (JPN) | 3 | 3.5 |
| 3.5 | | Günther Maas (FRG) | | Bye | | |
| 0 | | Mohamed El-Malky (EGY) | | DNA | | |
| 3 | | Ochirdolgoryn Enkhtaivan (MGL) | | DNA | | |
| 4 | | Mohieddin El-Sas (SYR) | | DNA | | |

### Round 3

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 6.5 | 3 | Günther Maas (FRG) | | Rahim Aliabadi (IRI) | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 4 | Hızır Sarı (TUR) | 5:55 | Bernd Drechsel (GDR) | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 3 | Ferenc Seres (HUN) | | Stefan Angelov (BUL) | 1 | 1.5 |
| 0 | 0 | Gheorghe Berceanu (ROU) | 7:53 | Lennarth Svensson (SWE) | 4 | 8.5 |
| 1 | 0 | Lorenzo Calafiore (ITA) | 7:59 | Sotirios Ventas (GRE) | 4 | 7 |
| 7.5 | 3.5 | Alfredo Olvera (MEX) | | Raimo Hirvonen (FIN) | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| 3.5 | | Kazuharu Ishida (JPN) | | Bye | | |

### Round 4

| TPP | MPP | | | MPP | TPP |
| 4 | 0.5 | Kazuharu Ishida (JPN) | Rahim Aliabadi (IRI) | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| 7 | 3 | Bernd Drechsel (GDR) | Gheorghe Berceanu (ROU) | 1 | 1 |
| 2.5 | 1 | Stefan Angelov (BUL) | Lorenzo Calafiore (ITA) | 3 | 4 |
| 2.5 | | Raimo Hirvonen (FIN) | Bye | | |

### Round 5

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 6 | 3.5 | Raimo Hirvonen (FIN) | | Rahim Aliabadi (IRI) | 0.5 | 5 |
| 7 | 3 | Kazuharu Ishida (JPN) | | Stefan Angelov (BUL) | 1 | 3.5 |
| 1 | 0 | Gheorghe Berceanu (ROU) | 0:00 | Lorenzo Calafiore (ITA) | 4 | 8 |

### Final

Results from the preliminary round are carried forward into the final (shown in yellow).
| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| | 3 | Rahim Aliabadi (IRI) | | Gheorghe Berceanu (ROU) | 1 | |
| | 4 | Stefan Angelov (BUL) | 2:00 | Rahim Aliabadi (IRI) | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | 0 | Gheorghe Berceanu (ROU) | 0:00 | Stefan Angelov (BUL) | 4 | 8 |

## Final standings

* Gheorghe Berceanu (ROU)
* Rahim Aliabadi (IRI)
* Stefan Angelov (BUL)
* Raimo Hirvonen (FIN)
* Kazuharu Ishida (JPN)
* Lorenzo Calafiore (ITA)