# Wrestling at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 68 kg

The Men's Freestyle 68 kg at the 1976 Summer Olympics as part of the wrestling program were held at the Maurice Richard Arena.

## Medalists

| Gold | Pavel Pinigin Soviet Union |
| Silver | Lloyd Keaser United States |
| Bronze | Yasaburo Sugawara Japan |

## 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 |
| 0 | 0 | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | 21 - 6 | Zsigmond Kelevitz (AUS) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Segundo Olmedo (PAN) | TF / 2:43 | Go Jin-won (KOR) | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Rafael González (PUR) | 13 - 16 | Lennart Lundell (SWE) | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 4 | Ronald Joseph (ISV) | TF / 2:09 | Rami Miron (ISR) | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 | Doncho Zhekov (BUL) | 9 - 4 | János Kocsis (HUN) | 3 | 3 |
| 0 | 0 | José Ramos (CUB) | TF / 7:79 | Clive Llewellyn (CAN) | 4 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | Eberhard Probst (GDR) | TF / 1:32 | Arona Mané (SEN) | 4 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | Joseph Gilligan (GBR) | TF / 2:30 | Sergio Fiszman (ARG) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Gerhard Weisenberger (FRG) | 7 - 19 | Mohammad Reza Navaei (IRI) | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Kari Övermark (FIN) | 4 - 20 | Lloyd Keaser (USA) | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 | Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN) | 8 - 7 | Mehmet Sarı (TUR) | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | 3 | Šaban Sejdi (YUG) | 3 - 8 | Pavel Pinigin (URS) | 1 | 1 |

### Round 2

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 0 | 0 | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | 19 - 4 | Segundo Olmedo (PAN) | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | 1 | Zsigmond Kelevitz (AUS) | 11 - 8 | Ko Jin-Won (KOR) | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | 0 | Rafael González (PUR) | TF / 2:08 | Ronald Joseph (ISV) | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | 4 | Lennart Lundell (SWE) | 3 - 16 | Rami Miron (ISR) | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 3 | Doncho Zhekov (BUL) | 4 - 9 | José Ramos (CUB) | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 1 | János Kocsis (HUN) | 7 - 5 | Clive Llewellyn (CAN) | 3 | 7 |
| 0 | 0 | Eberhard Probst (GDR) | TF / 4:51 | Joseph Gilligan (GBR) | 4 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | Arona Mané (SEN) | TF / 4:49 | Sergio Fiszman (ARG) | 0 | 4 |
| 4.5 | 0.5 | Gerhard Weisenberger (FRG) | 24 - 14 | Kari Övermark (FIN) | 3.5 | 8.5 |
| 4 | 4 | Mohammad Reza Navaei (IRI) | TF / 6:40 | Lloyd Keaser (USA) | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN) | TF / 2:31 | Šaban Sejdi (YUG) | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | 3 | Mehmet Sarı (TUR) | 3 - 10 | Pavel Pinigin (URS) | 1 | 2 |

### Round 3

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 1 | 1 | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | 9 - 6 | Ko Jin-Won (KOR) | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 0 | Zsigmond Kelevitz (AUS) | TF / 1:48 | Rafael González (PUR) | 4 | 7 |
| 9 | 4 | Lennart Lundell (SWE) | 3 - 17 | Doncho Zhekov (BUL) | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Rami Miron (ISR) | DQ / 7:42 | János Kocsis (HUN) | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | 1 | José Ramos (CUB) | 10 - 8 | Eberhard Probst (GDR) | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | 4 | Joseph Gilligan (GBR) | TF / 5:56 | Gerhard Weisenberger (FRG) | 0 | 4.5 |
| 8 | 4 | Sergio Fiszman (ARG) | TF / 4:44 | Mohammad Reza Navaei (IRI) | 0 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | Lloyd Keaser (USA) | DQ / 4:21 | Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN) | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | | Pavel Pinigin (URS) | | Bye | | |

### Round 4

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 3 | 1 | Pavel Pinigin (URS) | 4 - 3 | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | 3 | 4 |
| 8 | 3 | Zsigmond Kelevitz (AUS) | 4 - 7 | Rami Miron (ISR) | 1 | 5 |
| 4.5 | 0.5 | Doncho Zhekov (BUL) | 13 - 5 | Eberhard Probst (GDR) | 3.5 | 6.5 |
| 7 | 3 | János Kocsis (HUN) | 3 - 8 | José Ramos (CUB) | 1 | 3 |
| 8.5 | 4 | Gerhard Weisenberger (FRG) | TF / 1:55 | Lloyd Keaser (USA) | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 4 | Mohammad Reza Navaei (IRI) | 1 - 16 | Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN) | 0 | 5 |

### Round 5

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 3 | 0 | Pavel Pinigin (URS) | DQ / 7:06 | Rami Miron (ISR) | 4 | 9 |
| 7 | 3 | Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL) | 7 - 7 | Doncho Zhekov (BUL) | 1 | 5.5 |
| 7 | 4 | José Ramos (CUB) | DQ / 7:47 | Lloyd Keaser (USA) | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | | Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN) | | Bye | | |

### Round 6

| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| 6 | 1 | Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN) | 5 - 5 | Pavel Pinigin (URS) | 3 | 6 |
| 8.5 | 3 | Doncho Zhekov (BUL) | 5 - 9 | Lloyd Keaser (USA) | 1 | 1 |

### Final

Results from the preliminary round are carried forward into the final (shown in yellow).
| TPP | MPP | | Score | | MPP | TPP |
| | 0 | Lloyd Keaser (USA) | DQ / 4:21 | Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN) | 4 | |
| 5 | 1 | Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN) | 5 - 5 | Pavel Pinigin (URS) | 3 | |
| 3.5 | 0.5 | Pavel Pinigin (URS) | 12 - 1 | Lloyd Keaser (USA) | 3.5 | 3.5 |

## Final standings

* Pavel Pinigin (URS)
* Lloyd Keaser (USA)
* Yasaburo Sugawara (JPN)
* Doncho Zhekov (BUL)
* José Ramos (CUB)
* Tsedendambyn Natsagdorj (MGL)
* Rami Miron (ISR)
* Eberhard Probst (GDR)