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

The men's freestyle welterweight 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. Welterweight was the fourth-heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing 67 to 73 kilograms (147.7 to 160.9 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

Ochman and Rantanen withdrew after their bouts.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Mitko Petkov | Bulgaria | Fall | Bruno Ochman | Canada |
| Nabi Sorouri | Iran | Fall | Devi Singh | India |
| Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | Decision, 3–0 | Ernie Fischer | United States |
| İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | Fall | Ernst Wandaller | Austria |
| Per Berlin | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Noel Granger | Australia |
| Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Veikko Rantanen | Finland |
| Alfred Tischendorf | United Team of Germany | Decision, 3–0 | Muhammad Latif | Pakistan |
| Coenraad de Villiers | South Africa | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Coenraad de Villiers | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Mitko Petkov | Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Nabi Sorouri | Iran | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Per Berlin | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Alfred Tischendorf | United Team of Germany | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Ernie Fischer | United States | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Noel Granger | Australia | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Muhammad Latif | Pakistan | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Devi Singh | India | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Ernst Wandaller | Austria | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | Bruno Ochman | Canada | 0 | 3 | 3* |
| 14 | Veikko Rantanen | Finland | 0 | 3 | 3* |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Coenraad de Villiers | South Africa | Decision, 3–0 | Mitko Petkov | Bulgaria |
| Ernie Fischer | United States | Decision, 3–0 | Nabi Sorouri | Iran |
| Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | Fall | Devi Singh | India |
| İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | Fall | Noel Granger | Australia |
| Per Berlin | Sweden | Fall | Ernst Wandaller | Austria |
| Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union | Fall | Alfred Tischendorf | United Team of Germany |
| Muhammad Latif | Pakistan | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Per Berlin | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Coenraad de Villiers | South Africa | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Muhammad Latif | Pakistan | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Mitko Petkov | Bulgaria | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Nabi Sorouri | Iran | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Ernie Fischer | United States | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Alfred Tischendorf | United Team of Germany | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 11 | Noel Granger | Australia | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Devi Singh | India | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Ernst Wandaller | Austria | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Coenraad de Villiers | South Africa | Decision, 3–0 | Muhammad Latif | Pakistan |
| Nabi Sorouri | Iran | Decision, 3–0 | Mitko Petkov | Bulgaria |
| İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Ernie Fischer | United States |
| Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | Decision, 3–0 | Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union |
| Per Berlin | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Alfred Tischendorf | United Team of Germany |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Per Berlin | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Coenraad de Villiers | South Africa | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Nabi Sorouri | Iran | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Muhammad Latif | Pakistan | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Mitko Petkov | Bulgaria | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Ernie Fischer | United States | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | Alfred Tischendorf | United Team of Germany | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 4
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Nabi Sorouri | Iran | Decision, 3–0 | Coenraad de Villiers | South Africa |
| Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | Decision, 3–0 | İbrahim Zengin | Turkey |
| Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union | Fall | Per Berlin | Sweden |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Per Berlin | Sweden | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 | Coenraad de Villiers | South Africa | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 | Nabi Sorouri | Iran | 4 | 1 | 5 |

### Medal rounds

Ikeda's victories over Balavadze in round 3 and Zengin in round 4 counted for the medal rounds, giving the Japanese wrestler the gold medal with a 2–0 record against the other medalists. Zengin defeated Balavadze in a de facto silver medal match.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | Fall | Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses |
| Mitsuo Ikeda | Japan | 2 | 0 |
| İbrahim Zengin | Turkey | 1 | 1 |
| Vakhtang Balavadze | Soviet Union | 0 | 2 |