# Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle heavyweight

The men's freestyle heavyweight competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne took place from 28 November to 1 December at the Royal Exhibition Building. Nations were limited to one competitor. Heavyweight was the heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing over 87 kilograms (191.8 lb).

## Competition format

This freestyle 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 |
| Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | Decision, 3–0 | Hossein Nouri | Iran |
| Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | John Da Silva | New Zealand |
| Ken Richmond | Great Britain | Decision, 3–0 | Lila Ram | India |
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | Decision, 2–1 | Bill Kerslake | United States |
| Ray Mitchell | Australia | Decision, 2–1 | Saburo Nakao | Japan |
| Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ray Mitchell | Australia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | John Da Silva | New Zealand | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Bill Kerslake | United States | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Saburo Nakao | Japan | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Hossein Nouri | Iran | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Lila Ram | India | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | Fall | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |
| Hossein Nouri | Iran | Decision, 3–0 | John Da Silva | New Zealand |
| Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain |
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | Fall | Lila Ram | India |
| Bill Kerslake | United States | Fall | Ray Mitchell | Australia |
| Saburo Nakao | Japan | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Bill Kerslake | United States | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Saburo Nakao | Japan | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Ray Mitchell | Australia | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | Hossein Nouri | Iran | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 | John Da Silva | New Zealand | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Lila Ram | India | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | Fall | Saburo Nakao | Japan |
| Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | Decision, 3–0 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union |
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | Fall | Hossein Nouri | Iran |
| Ken Richmond | Great Britain | Fall | Bill Kerslake | United States |
| Ray Mitchell | Australia | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Ray Mitchell | Australia | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | Bill Kerslake | United States | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Saburo Nakao | Japan | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Hossein Nouri | Iran | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 4
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | Fall | Ray Mitchell | Australia |
| Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | Decision, 3–0 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain |
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Ray Mitchell | Australia | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Medal rounds

Mekhmedov's victory over Kangasniemi in round 2 counted for the medal rounds. That victory essentially decided the silver medal, as Kaplan defeated both of the other two wrestlers to take the gold medal.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria |
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses |
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey | 2 | 0 |
| Husein Mehmedov | Bulgaria | 1 | 1 |
| Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 0 | 2 |