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

The men's freestyle bantamweight 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. Bantamweight was the second-lightest category, including wrestlers weighing 52 to 57 kilograms (114.6 to 125.7 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 |
| Lajos Bencze | Hungary | Decision, 2–1 | Erkki Johansson | Finland |
| Erik Persson | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Walter Wenger | Switzerland |
| Charles Kouyos | France | Decision, 3–0 | Sayed Hafez Shehata | Egypt |
| Joseph Trimpont | Belgium | Fall | Fabio Santamaria | Cuba |
| Nasuh Akar | Turkey | Fall | Norman May | Canada |
| Ray Cazaux | Great Britain | Decision, 3–0 | Francisco Vicera | Philippines |
| Gerald Leeman | United States | Fall | Nirmal Bhose | India |
| Han Sang-ryong | South Korea | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Nasuh Akar | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Han Sang-ryong | South Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Gerald Leeman | United States | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Joseph Trimpont | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Lajos Bencze | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Ray Cazaux | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Charles Kouyos | France | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Erik Persson | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Erkki Johansson | Finland | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Nirmal Bhose | India | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Sayed Hafez Shehata | Egypt | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Norman May | Canada | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Fabio Santamaria | Cuba | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Francisco Vicera | Philippines | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Walter Wenger | Switzerland | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Erik Persson | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Han Sang-ryong | South Korea |
| Nasuh Akar | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Walter Wenger | Switzerland |
| Lajos Bencze | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Norman May | Canada |
| Erkki Johansson | Finland | Decision, 2–1 | Nirmal Bhose | India |
| Gerald Leeman | United States | Fall | Ray Cazaux | Great Britain |
| Charles Kouyos | France | Fall | Francisco Vicera | Philippines |
| Sayed Hafez Shehata | Egypt | Fall | Fabio Santamaria | Cuba |
| Joseph Trimpont | Belgium | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Gerald Leeman | United States | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Joseph Trimpont | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Nasuh Akar | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Charles Kouyos | France | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Lajos Bencze | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Erik Persson | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Sayed Hafez Shehata | Egypt | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Han Sang-ryong | South Korea | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Erkki Johansson | Finland | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Ray Cazaux | Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 11 | Nirmal Bhose | India | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 12 | Norman May | Canada | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Fabio Santamaria | Cuba | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Francisco Vicera | Philippines | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Walter Wenger | Switzerland | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3

Hafez Shehata is officially listed as part of the tie for 5th place despite having 6 points to the other 5th place finishers' 5 points.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Joseph Trimpont | Belgium | Decision, 3–0 | Han Sang-ryong | South Korea |
| Nasuh Akar | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Erik Persson | Sweden |
| Gerald Leeman | United States | Decision, 3–0 | Lajos Bencze | Hungary |
| Charles Kouyos | France | Fall | Erkki Johansson | Finland |
| Ray Cazaux | Great Britain | Decision, 3–0 | Sayed Hafez Shehata | Egypt |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Charles Kouyos | France | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Gerald Leeman | United States | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | Joseph Trimpont | Belgium | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Nasuh Akar | Turkey | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Lajos Bencze | Hungary | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Ray Cazaux | Great Britain | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Erik Persson | Sweden | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Sayed Hafez Shehata | Egypt | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Han Sang-ryong | South Korea | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Erkki Johansson | Finland | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 4
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Nasuh Akar | Turkey | Fall | Joseph Trimpont | Belgium |
| Gerald Leeman | United States | Decision, 3–0 | Charles Kouyos | France |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Nasuh Akar | Turkey | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | Gerald Leeman | United States | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Charles Kouyos | France | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Joseph Trimpont | Belgium | 1 | 3 | 4 |

### Round 5

Kouyos took the bronze over Trimpont "based on more wins." Both finished with 7 points and had not faced each other. Kouyos was 3–2 while Trimpont was only 2–2 after receiving a second-round bye.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Gerald Leeman | United States | Decision, 3–0 | Joseph Trimpont | Belgium |
| Nasuh Akar | Turkey | Fall | Charles Kouyos | France |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Nasuh Akar | Turkey | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Gerald Leeman | United States | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| | Charles Kouyos | France | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Joseph Trimpont | Belgium | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 6
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Nasuh Akar | Turkey | Fall | Gerald Leeman | United States |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| | Nasuh Akar | Turkey | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| | Gerald Leeman | United States | 2 | 3 | 5 |