# Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle heavyweight

The men's freestyle heavyweight competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London took place from 29 July to 31 July at the Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Nations were limited to one competitor. Heavyweight was the heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing over 87 kilograms (191.8 lb).
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, with the slight modification introduced in 1936. 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 if the loss was by fall or unanimous decision and 2 points if the decision was 2-1 (this was the modification from prior years, where all losses were 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.

## Results
### Round 1
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia | Decision, 2–1 | Dick Hutton | United States |
| Jim Armstrong | Australia | Decision, 3–0 | Fred Oberlander | Great Britain |
| Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Willy Lardon | Switzerland |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Sadik Esen | Turkey |
| Abolghasem Sakhdari | Iran | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Abolghasem Sakhdari | Iran | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Jim Armstrong | Australia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Dick Hutton | United States | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | Fred Oberlander | Great Britain | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Willy Lardon | Switzerland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Sadik Esen | Turkey | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia | Decision, 2–1 | Fred Oberlander | Great Britain |
| Dick Hutton | United States | Decision, 2–1 | Abolghasem Sakhdari | Iran |
| Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | Fall | Jim Armstrong | Australia |
| Sadik Esen | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Willy Lardon | Switzerland |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Abolghasem Sakhdari | Iran | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Dick Hutton | United States | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Jim Armstrong | Australia | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Sadik Esen | Turkey | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | Fred Oberlander | Great Britain | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 9 | Willy Lardon | Switzerland | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Fall | Abolghasem Sakhdari | Iran |
| Jim Armstrong | Australia | Retired | Dick Hutton | United States |
| Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | Fall | Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia |
| Sadik Esen | Turkey | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Jim Armstrong | Australia | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Sadik Esen | Turkey | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Abolghasem Sakhdari | Iran | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | Dick Hutton | United States | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 4
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Jim Armstrong | Australia | Fall | Sadik Esen | Turkey |
| Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | Decision, 2–1 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Jim Armstrong | Australia | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Sadik Esen | Turkey | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 5

Bóbis had already defeated both Armstrong and Antonsson, so the only possible match remaining was between the two of them (guaranteeing Bóbis the gold medal and making round 5 in effect a silver/bronze bout). Antonsson won by fall, taking the silver.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Fall | Jim Armstrong | Australia |
| Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| Gyula Bóbis | Hungary | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Armstrong | Australia | 4 | 3 | 7 |