# Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman middleweight

The men's Greco-Roman middleweight competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne took place from 3 December to 6 December at the Royal Exhibition Building. Nations were limited to one competitor. Middleweight was the third-heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing 73 to 79 kilograms (160.9 to 174.2 lb).

## Competition format

This Greco-Roman 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

Simić withdrew after his bout.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Viljo Punkari | Finland | Fall | Wally Paterson | Australia |
| Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Rune Jansson | Sweden |
| György Gurics | Hungary | Decision, 2–1 | Jim Peckham | United States |
| Hans Sterr | United Team of Germany | Fall | İsmet Atlı | Turkey |
| Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | Fall | Branislav Simić | Yugoslavia |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Viljo Punkari | Finland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Hans Sterr | United Team of Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | György Gurics | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | İsmet Atlı | Turkey | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Rune Jansson | Sweden | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | William Paterson | Australia | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Jim Peckham | United States | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Branislav Simić | Yugoslavia | 0 | 3 | 3* |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Rune Jansson | Sweden | Fall | Viljo Punkari | Finland |
| Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | Fall | Wally Paterson | Australia |
| Jim Peckham | United States | Decision, 2–1 | Hans Sterr | United Team of Germany |
| György Gurics | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | İsmet Atlı | Turkey |
| Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | György Gurics | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Rune Jansson | Sweden | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Viljo Punkari | Finland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Hans Sterr | United Team of Germany | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Jim Peckham | United States | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | İsmet Atlı | Turkey | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | William Paterson | Australia | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | Decision, 2–1 | Viljo Punkari | Finland |
| Rune Jansson | Sweden | Decision, 2–1 | Jim Peckham | United States |
| Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | György Gurics | Hungary |
| Hans Sterr | United Team of Germany | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Hans Sterr | United Team of Germany | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Rune Jansson | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | György Gurics | Hungary | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | Viljo Punkari | Finland | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Jim Peckham | United States | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 4
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Rune Jansson | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Hans Sterr | United Team of Germany |
| Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | Decision, 2–1 | Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Rune Jansson | Sweden | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Hans Sterr | United Team of Germany | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Medal rounds

Kartozia's victories over Jansson in round 1 and over Dobrev in round 4 counted for the medal round, giving him the gold medal with a 2–0 record against the other medalists. Dobrev defeated Jansson in a de facto silver medal bout.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | Decision, 3–0 | Rune Jansson | Sweden |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses |
| Givi Kartozia | Soviet Union | 2 | 0 |
| Dimitar Dobrev | Bulgaria | 1 | 1 |
| Rune Jansson | Sweden | 0 | 2 |