# Wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 52 kg

The Men's Freestyle 52 kg at the 1972 Summer Olympics as part of the wrestling program at the Fairgrounds, Judo and Wrestling Hall.

## Medalists

| Gold | Kiyomi Kato Japan |
| Silver | Arsen Alakhverdiyev Soviet Union |
| Bronze | Kim Gwong-Hyong North Korea |

## 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 wrestler. When only two or three wrestlers remain, a special final round is used to determine the order of the medals.

### Legend

* DNA — Did not appear
* TPP — Total penalty points
* MPP — Match penalty points

### Penalties

* 0 — Won by Fall, Passivity, Injury and Forfeit
* 0.5 — Won by Technical Superiority
* 1 — Won by Points
* 2 — Draw
* 2.5 — Draw, Passivity
* 3 — Lost by Points
* 3.5 — Lost by Technical Superiority
* 4 — Lost by Fall, Passivity, Injury and Forfeit

### Round 1

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 2 | 2 | Baju Baev (BUL) | | Vincenzo Grassi (ITA) | 2 | 2 |
| 0.5 | 0.5 | Dorjzovdyn Ganbat (MGL) | | Miguel Alonso (CUB) | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| 3 | 3 | Mohammad Arref (AFG) | | Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS) | 1 | 1 |
| 0 | 0 | Kiyomi Kato (JPN) | 5:57 | Mohammad Ghorbani (IRI) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Wanelge Castillo (PAN) | 8:57 | Andrzej Kudelski (POL) | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | Gordon Bertie (CAN) | 2:14 | Javier León (PER) | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | James Carr (USA) | 4:57 | Kim Young-Jun (KOR) | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 | Sudesh Kumar (IND) | | Ali Rıza Alan (TUR) | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Willi Bock (GDR) | 1:56 | Henrik Gál (HUN) | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Mario Sabatini (FRG) | | Florentino Martínez (MEX) | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK) | | Petru Ciarnău (ROU) | 1 | 1 |
| 3.5 | 3.5 | Pedro Piñeda (GUA) | | John Kinsella (AUS) | 0.5 | 0.5 |

### Round 2

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 6 | 4 | Baju Baev (BUL) | 8:35 | Dorjzovdyn Ganbat (MGL) | 4 | 4.5 |
| 3 | 1 | Vincenzo Grassi (ITA) | | Miguel Alonso (CUB) | 3 | 6.5 |
| 7 | 4 | Mohammad Arref (AFG) | 2:01 | Kiyomi Kato (JPN) | 0 | 0 |
| 1.5 | 0.5 | Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS) | | Wanelge Castillo (PAN) | 3.5 | 7.5 |
| 3 | 3 | Andrzej Kudelski (POL) | | Gordon Bertie (CAN) | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 4 | Javier León (PER) | 5:56 | James Carr (USA) | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | Kim Young-Jun (KOR) | 4:01 | Sudesh Kumar (IND) | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 0 | Ali Rıza Alan (TUR) | 1:54 | Willi Bock (GDR) | 4 | 8 |
| 0 | 0 | Henrik Gál (HUN) | 7:41 | Mario Sabatini (FRG) | 4 | 7 |
| 5 | 4 | Florentino Martínez (MEX) | 7:47 | Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK) | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | 0 | Petru Ciarnău (ROU) | 4:16 | Pedro Piñeda (GUA) | 4 | 7.5 |
| 0.5 | | John Kinsella (AUS) | | Bye | | |
| 4 | | Mohammad Ghorbani (IRI) | | DNA | | |

### Round 3

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 3.5 | 3 | John Kinsella (AUS) | | Vincenzo Grassi (ITA) | 1 | 4 |
| 7.5 | 3 | Dorjzovdyn Ganbat (MGL) | | Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS) | 1 | 2.5 |
| 0 | 0 | Kiyomi Kato (JPN) | 2:55 | Andrzej Kudelski (POL) | 4 | 7 |
| 1 | 0 | Gordon Bertie (CAN) | 3:35 | James Carr (USA) | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | 3 | Kim Young-Jun (KOR) | | Ali Rıza Alan (TUR) | 1 | 4 |
| 1 | 0 | Sudesh Kumar (IND) | 7:07 | Florentino Martínez (MEX) | 4 | 9 |
| 3 | 3 | Henrik Gál (HUN) | | Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK) | 1 | 4 |
| 1 | | Petru Ciarnău (ROU) | | Bye | | |

### Round 4

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 1.5 | 0.5 | Petru Ciarnău (ROU) | | John Kinsella (AUS) | 3.5 | 7 |
| 8 | 4 | Vincenzo Grassi (ITA) | 7:43 | Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS) | 0 | 2.5 |
| 0.5 | 0.5 | Kiyomi Kato (JPN) | | Gordon Bertie (CAN) | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| 1 | 0 | Sudesh Kumar (IND) | 3:17 | Henrik Gál (HUN) | 4 | 7 |
| 7.5 | 3.5 | Ali Rıza Alan (TUR) | | Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK) | 0.5 | 4.5 |

### Round 5

| TPP | MPP | | | MPP | TPP |
| 3.5 | 2 | Petru Ciarnău (ROU) | Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS) | 2 | 4.5 |
| 1.5 | 1 | Kiyomi Kato (JPN) | Sudesh Kumar (IND) | 3 | 4 |
| 7.5 | 3 | Gordon Bertie (CAN) | Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK) | 1 | 5.5 |

### Round 6

| TPP | MPP | | Time | | MPP | TPP |
| 7.5 | 4 | Petru Ciarnău (ROU) | 1:35 | Kiyomi Kato (JPN) | 0 | 1.5 |
| 5.5 | 1 | Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS) | | Sudesh Kumar (IND) | 3 | 7 |
| 5.5 | | Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK) | | Bye | | |

### Final

Results from the preliminary round are carried forward into the final (shown in yellow).
| TPP | MPP | | | MPP | TPP |
| | 2 | Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK) | Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS) | 2 | |
| | 1 | Kiyomi Kato (JPN) | Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK) | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | 3 | Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS) | Kiyomi Kato (JPN) | 1 | 2 |

## Final standings

* Kiyomi Kato (JPN)
* Arsen Alakhverdiyev (URS)
* Kim Gwong-Hyong (PRK)
* Sudesh Kumar (IND)
* Petru Ciarnău (ROU)
* Gordon Bertie (CAN)