# Wrestling at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 82 kg

The Men's Freestyle 82 kg at the 1976 Summer Olympics as part of the wrestling program were held at the Maurice Richard Arena.

## Medalists

| Gold | John Peterson United States |
| Silver | Viktor Novozhilov Soviet Union |
| Bronze | Adolf Seger West Germany |

## 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 loser wrestler. When only three wrestlers remain, a special final round is used to determine the order of the medals.

### Legend

* TF — Won by Fall
* IN — Won by Opponent Injury
* DQ — Won by Passivity
* D1 — Won by Passivity, the winner is passive too
* D2 — Both wrestlers lost by Passivity
* FF — Won by Forfeit
* DNA — Did not appear
* TPP — Total penalty points
* MPP — Match penalty points

### Penalties

* 0 — Won by Fall, Technical Superiority, Passivity, Injury and Forfeit
* 0.5 — Won by Points, 8-11 points difference
* 1 — Won by Points, 1-7 points difference
* 2 — Won by Passivity, the winner is passive too
* 3 — Lost by Points, 1-7 points difference
* 3.5 — Lost by Points, 8-11 points difference
* 4 — Lost by Fall, Technical Superiority, Passivity, Injury and Forfeit

### Round 1

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 4 | 4 | Masaru Motegi (JPN) | TF / 1:03 | Ismail Abilov (BUL) | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | David Aspin (NZL) | TF / 1:18 | Chimidiin Gochoosüren (MGL) | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | Viktor Novozhilov (URS) | DQ / 8:42 | Vasile Iorga (ROU) | 4 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | Richard Deschatelets (CAN) | DQ / 5:54 | Imad Faddoul (LIB) | 4 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | John Peterson (USA) | TF / 1:18 | Anthony Shacklady (GBR) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | André Bouchoule (FRA) | 5 - 18 | Adolf Seger (FRG) | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | István Kovács (HUN) | DQ / 7:39 | Mohammad Hossein Mohebbi (IRI) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Manuel Villapol (PUR) | DQ / 7:43 | Ibrahim Diop (SEN) | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 | Henryk Mazur (POL) | 9 - 4 | Mehmet Uzun (TUR) | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 4 | 0 | Masaru Motegi (JPN) | TF / 0:41 | David Aspin (NZL) | 4 | 8 |
| 0 | 0 | Ismail Abilov (BUL) | TF / 5:01 | Chimidiin Gochoosüren (MGL) | 4 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | Viktor Novozhilov (URS) | TF / 0:42 | Richard Deschatelets (CAN) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 0 | Vasile Iorga (ROU) | DQ / 7:37 | Imad Faddoul (LIB) | 4 | 8 |
| 0 | 0 | John Peterson (USA) | DQ / 8:43 | André Bouchoule (FRA) | 4 | 8 |
| 8 | 4 | Anthony Shacklady (GBR) | TF / 2:32 | Adolf Seger (FRG) | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | István Kovács (HUN) | TF / 2:06 | Manuel Villapol (PUR) | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | 3 | Mohammad Hossein Mohebbi (IRI) | 10 - 13 | Henryk Mazur (POL) | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 4 | Ibrahim Diop (SEN) | DQ / 5:26 | Mehmet Uzun (TUR) | 0 | 3 |

### Round 3

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 4 | 0 | Masaru Motegi (JPN) | DQ / 7:00 | Chimidiin Gochoosüren (MGL) | 4 | 8 |
| 3.5 | 3.5 | Ismail Abilov (BUL) | 2 - 11 | Viktor Novozhilov (URS) | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| 5 | 1 | Vasile Iorga (ROU) | 8 - 6 | Richard Deschatelets (CAN) | 3 | 7 |
| 0.5 | 0.5 | John Peterson (USA) | 14 - 4 | Adolf Seger (FRG) | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| 3 | 3 | István Kovács (HUN) | 7 - 8 | Mehmet Uzun (TUR) | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | Ibrahim Diop (SEN) | TF / 5:21 | Henryk Mazur (POL) | 0 | 2 |

### Round 4

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 8 | 4 | Masaru Motegi (JPN) | TF / 1:34 | Viktor Novozhilov (URS) | 0 | 0.5 |
| 3.5 | 0 | Ismail Abilov (BUL) | TF / 3:48 | Vasile Iorga (ROU) | 4 | 9 |
| 1.5 | 1 | John Peterson (USA) | 10 - 3 | István Kovács (HUN) | 3 | 6 |
| 3.5 | 0 | Adolf Seger (FRG) | 26 - 6 | Henryk Mazur (POL) | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | | Mehmet Uzun (TUR) | | Bye | | |

### Round 5

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 4 | 0 | Mehmet Uzun (TUR) | DQ / 7:30 | Ismail Abilov (BUL) | 4 | 7.5 |
| 4.5 | 4 | Viktor Novozhilov (URS) | 4 - 20 | John Peterson (USA) | 0 | 1.5 |
| 3.5 | | Adolf Seger (FRG) | | Bye | | |

### Round 6

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 6.5 | 3 | Adolf Seger (FRG) | 9 - 13 | Viktor Novozhilov (URS) | 1 | 5.5 |
| 7.5 | 3.5 | Mehmet Uzun (TUR) | 5 - 13 | John Peterson (USA) | 0.5 | 2 |

### Final

Results from the preliminary round are carried forward into the final (shown in yellow).
| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| | 0.5 | John Peterson (USA) | 14 - 4 | Adolf Seger (FRG) | 3.5 | |
| | 4 | Viktor Novozhilov (URS) | 4 - 20 | John Peterson (USA) | 0 | 0.5 |
| 6.5 | 3 | Adolf Seger (FRG) | 9 - 13 | Viktor Novozhilov (URS) | 1 | 5 |

## Final standings

* John Peterson (USA)
* Viktor Novozhilov (URS)
* Adolf Seger (FRG)
* Mehmet Uzun (TUR)
* Ismail Abilov (BUL)
* Henryk Mazur (POL)
* István Kovács (HUN)
* Masaru Motegi (JPN)