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

The men's Greco-Roman bantamweight competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki took place from 24 July to 27 July at Messuhalli. Nations were limited to one competitor. Bantamweight is 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, 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

Hassan and Panagiotopoulos withdrew after their matches.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Norbert Kohler | Saar | Fall | Oswaldo Johnston | Guatemala |
| Pietro Lombardi | Italy | Decision, 2–1 | Hubert Persson | Sweden |
| Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | Fall | Rudolf Toboła | Poland |
| Kemal Demirsüren | Turkey | Fall | Leo Cortsen | Denmark |
| Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | Decision, 3–0 | Ion Popescu | Romania |
| Arvo Kyllönen | Finland | Fall | Maurice Faure | France |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt |
| Reidar Merli | Norway | Decision, 3–0 | Sotirios Panagiotopoulos | Greece |
| Ferdinand Schmitz | Germany | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Kemal Demirsüren | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Norbert Kohler | Saar | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Arvo Kyllönen | Finland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Ferdinand Schmitz | Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Pietro Lombardi | Italy | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Reidar Merli | Norway | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Leo Cortsen | Denmark | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Maurice Faure | France | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Oswaldo Johnston | Guatemala | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Hubert Persson | Sweden | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Ion Popescu | Romania | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Rudolf Toboła | Poland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 16 | Mahmoud Hassan | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 3 | 3* |
| 16 | Sotirios Panagiotopoulos | Greece | 0 | 3 | 3* |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Ferdinand Schmitz | Germany | Fall | Norbert Kohler | Saar |
| Hubert Persson | Sweden | Fall | Oswaldo Johnston | Guatemala |
| Pietro Lombardi | Italy | Decision, 3–0 | Rudolf Toboła | Poland |
| Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Kemal Demirsüren | Turkey |
| Ion Popescu | Romania | Decision, 2–1 | Leo Cortsen | Denmark |
| Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | Decision, 2–1 | Maurice Faure | France |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | Decision, 2–1 | Arvo Kyllönen | Finland |
| Reidar Merli | Norway | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Ferdinand Schmitz | Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Reidar Merli | Norway | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Pietro Lombardi | Italy | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Kemal Demirsüren | Turkey | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Norbert Kohler | Saar | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Arvo Kyllönen | Finland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Hubert Persson | Sweden | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | Ion Popescu | Romania | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 12 | Leo Cortsen | Denmark | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Maurice Faure | France | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Oswaldo Johnston | Guatemala | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Rudolf Toboła | Poland | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Reidar Merli | Norway | Decision, 3–0 | Ferdinand Schmitz | Germany |
| Hubert Persson | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Norbert Kohler | Saar |
| Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Pietro Lombardi | Italy |
| Ion Popescu | Romania | Fall | Kemal Demirsüren | Turkey |
| Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | Decision, 3–0 | Arvo Kyllönen | Finland |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | Reidar Merli | Norway | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1 | Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Ferdinand Schmitz | Germany | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Hubert Persson | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Ion Popescu | Romania | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | Pietro Lombardi | Italy | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 9 | Kemal Demirsüren | Turkey | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Norbert Kohler | Saar | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Arvo Kyllönen | Finland | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 4
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Reidar Merli | Norway |
| Hubert Persson | Sweden | Fall | Ferdinand Schmitz | Germany |
| Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Ion Popescu | Romania |
| Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 1 | Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Hubert Persson | Sweden | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Reidar Merli | Norway | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | Ferdinand Schmitz | Germany | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Ion Popescu | Romania | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 5
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | Decision, 2–1 | Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon |
| Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Hubert Persson | Sweden |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Imre Hódos | Hungary | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 1 | Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | Hubert Persson | Sweden | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Medal rounds

Chihab and Hódos had met in round 5 and did not wrestle each other again. The tie between Chihab and Hódos in the standings was resolved by head-to-head (Hódos had won the bout between the two).

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | Decision, 2–1 | Artem Teryan | Soviet Union |
| Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Imre Hódos | Hungary |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses | Start | Earned | Total |
| Imre Hódos | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Zakaria Chihab | Lebanon | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Artem Teryan | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 |