# Wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 68 kg

The Men's Freestyle 68 kg at the 1972 Summer Olympics as part of the wrestling program at the Fairgrounds, Judo and Wrestling Hall. Israeli wrestler Eliezer Halfin was later killed in the Munich massacre.

## Medalists

| Gold | Dan Gable United States |
| Silver | Kikuo Wada Japan |
| Bronze | Ruslan Ashuraliyev Soviet Union |

## 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 |
| 1 | 1 | Ali Şahin (TUR) | | Eliezer Halfin (ISR) | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | 3 | Jagrup Singh (IND) | | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | Ismail Yuseinov (BUL) | | Ruslan Ashuraliyev (URS) | 1 | 1 |
| 3.5 | 3.5 | Segundo Olmedo (PAN) | | Abdollah Movahed (IRI) | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| 1 | 1 | Eduardo Quintero (CUB) | | Gabriel Ruz (MEX) | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | 3 | Josef Engel (TCH) | | Petre Poalelungi (ROU) | 1 | 1 |
| 0 | 0 | Udo Schröder (GDR) | 1:08 | Arona Mané (SEN) | 4 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | Stefanos Ioannidis (GRE) | 2:47 | Georges Carbasse (FRA) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Safer Sali (YUG) | 7:35 | Dan Gable (USA) | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Ronald Ouellet (CAN) | 8:58 | Klaus Rost (FRG) | 0 | 0 |
| 3.5 | 3.5 | André Chardonnens (SUI) | | Włodzimierz Cieślak (POL) | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| 4 | 4 | Joseph Gilligan (GBR) | 7:36 | Kikuo Wada (JPN) | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | | József Rusznyák (HUN) | | Bye | | |

### Round 2

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 3 | 3 | József Rusznyák (HUN) | | Ali Şahin (TUR) | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 1 | Eliezer Halfin (ISR) | | Jagrup Singh (IND) | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 3 | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | | Ismail Yuseinov (BUL) | 1 | 4 |
| 1.5 | 0.5 | Ruslan Ashuraliyev (URS) | | Segundo Olmedo (PAN) | 3.5 | 7 |
| 5 | 4 | Eduardo Quintero (CUB) | 5:45 | Josef Engel (TCH) | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 4 | Gabriel Ruz (MEX) | 5:31 | Petre Poalelungi (ROU) | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | Udo Schröder (GDR) | | Stefanos Ioannidis (GRE) | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 4 | Arona Mané (SEN) | 1:50 | Georges Carbasse (FRA) | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 3 | Safer Sali (YUG) | | Ronald Ouellet (CAN) | 1 | 5 |
| 0.5 | 0.5 | Dan Gable (USA) | | Klaus Rost (FRG) | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| 6.5 | 3 | André Chardonnens (SUI) | | Joseph Gilligan (GBR) | 1 | 5 |
| 3.5 | 3 | Włodzimierz Cieślak (POL) | | Kikuo Wada (JPN) | 1 | 1 |
| 0.5 | | Abdollah Movahed (IRI) | | DNA | | |

### Round 3

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 3 | 0 | József Rusznyák (HUN) | 4:50 | Eliezer Halfin (ISR) | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | 3 | Ali Şahin (TUR) | | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | 0 | Ismail Yuseinov (BUL) | 3:27 | Eduardo Quintero (CUB) | 4 | 9 |
| 1.5 | 0 | Ruslan Ashuraliyev (URS) | 7:37 | Josef Engel (TCH) | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | 2 | Petre Poalelungi (ROU) | | Udo Schröder (GDR) | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | 4 | Stefanos Ioannidis (GRE) | 4:03 | Dan Gable (USA) | 0 | 0.5 |
| 4 | 0 | Georges Carbasse (FRA) | 4:53 | Ronald Ouellet (CAN) | 4 | 9 |
| 7 | 3.5 | Klaus Rost (FRG) | | Kikuo Wada (JPN) | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| 3.5 | 0 | Włodzimierz Cieślak (POL) | 7:29 | Joseph Gilligan (GBR) | 4 | 9 |

### Round 4

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 7 | 4 | József Rusznyák (HUN) | 4:42 | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | 0 | Ali Şahin (TUR) | 8:26 | Ismail Yuseinov (BUL) | 4 | 8 |
| 1.5 | 0 | Ruslan Ashuraliyev (URS) | 2:23 | Petre Poalelungi (ROU) | 4 | 7 |
| 5 | 0 | Udo Schröder (GDR) | 2:17 | Georges Carbasse (FRA) | 4 | 8 |
| 8 | 3 | Stefanos Ioannidis (GRE) | | Włodzimierz Cieślak (POL) | 1 | 4.5 |
| 1.5 | 1 | Dan Gable (USA) | | Kikuo Wada (JPN) | 3 | 4.5 |

### Round 5

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 6 | 1 | Ali Şahin (TUR) | | Ruslan Ashuraliyev (URS) | 3 | 4.5 |
| 6 | 1 | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | | Udo Schröder (GDR) | 3 | 8 |
| 1.5 | 0 | Dan Gable (USA) | 4:13 | Włodzimierz Cieślak (POL) | 4 | 8.5 |
| 4.5 | | Kikuo Wada (JPN) | | Bye | | |

### Final

Results from the preliminary round are carried forward into the final (shown in yellow).
| TPP | MPP | | | MPP | TPP |
| | 1 | Dan Gable (USA) | Kikuo Wada (JPN) | 3 | |
| 4 | 1 | Kikuo Wada (JPN) | Ruslan Ashuraliyev (URS) | 3 | |
| 2 | 1 | Dan Gable (USA) | Ruslan Ashuraliyev (URS) | 3 | 6 |

## Final standings

* Dan Gable (USA)
* Kikuo Wada (JPN)
* Ruslan Ashuraliyev (URS)
* Ali Şahin (TUR) and Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL)
* Udo Schröder (GDR)
* Włodzimierz Cieślak (POL)