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

The men's freestyle light 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. Light heavyweight was the second-heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing 79 to 87 kilograms (174.2 to 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 |
| Fernand Payette | Canada | Fall | Robert Landesmann | France |
| Spyros Defteraios | Greece | Fall | Mohamed Ragab El-Zaim | Egypt |
| Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Oscar Verona | Italy |
| Pat Morton | South Africa | Decision, 3–0 | Mansour Mir Ghavami | Iran |
| Muharrem Candaş | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Karel Istaz | Belgium |
| Johnny Sullivan | Great Britain | Decision, 3–0 | József Tarányi | Hungary |
| Henry Wittenberg | United States | Decision, 3–0 | Pekka Mellavuo | Finland |
| Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Spyros Defteraios | Greece | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Fernand Payette | Canada | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Muharrem Candaş | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Pat Morton | South Africa | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Johnny Sullivan | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Henry Wittenberg | United States | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Mohamed Ragab El-Zaim | Egypt | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Karel Istaz | Belgium | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Robert Landesmann | France | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Pekka Mellavuo | Finland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Mansour Mir Ghavami | Iran | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | József Tarányi | Hungary | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Oscar Verona | Italy | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | Fall | Robert Landesmann | France |
| Fernand Payette | Canada | Fall | Spyros Defteraios | Greece |
| Oscar Verona | Italy | Fall | Mohamed Ragab El-Zaim | Egypt |
| Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Pat Morton | South Africa |
| József Tarányi | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Mansour Mir Ghavami | Iran |
| Henry Wittenberg | United States | Fall | Johnny Sullivan | Great Britain |
| Muharrem Candaş | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Pekka Mellavuo | Finland |
| Karel Istaz | Belgium | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Fernand Payette | Canada | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Henry Wittenberg | United States | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Muharrem Candaş | Turkey | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Spyros Defteraios | Greece | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Karel Istaz | Belgium | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Oscar Verona | Italy | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | Pat Morton | South Africa | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | Johnny Sullivan | Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | József Tarányi | Hungary | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 12 | Mohamed Ragab El-Zaim | Egypt | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Robert Landesmann | France | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Pekka Mellavuo | Finland | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Mansour Mir Ghavami | Iran | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | Fall | Karel Istaz | Belgium |
| Fernand Payette | Canada | Decision, 3–0 | Oscar Verona | Italy |
| Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | Fall | Spyros Defteraios | Greece |
| Pat Morton | South Africa | Decision, 2–1 | Johnny Sullivan | Great Britain |
| Henry Wittenberg | United States | Fall | József Tarányi | Hungary |
| Muharrem Candaş | Turkey | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Fernand Payette | Canada | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Henry Wittenberg | United States | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Muharrem Candaş | Turkey | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Pat Morton | South Africa | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | Spyros Defteraios | Greece | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Karel Istaz | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Johnny Sullivan | Great Britain | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | Oscar Verona | Italy | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | József Tarányi | Hungary | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 4
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | Decision, 2–1 | Muharrem Candaş | Turkey |
| Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | Fall | Fernand Payette | Canada |
| Henry Wittenberg | United States | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | Henry Wittenberg | United States | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Muharrem Candaş | Turkey | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | Fernand Payette | Canada | 1 | 3 | 4 |

### Round 5
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Henry Wittenberg | United States | Fall | Muharrem Candaş | Turkey |
| Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | Fall | Fernand Payette | Canada |
| Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Henry Wittenberg | United States | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Muharrem Candaş | Turkey | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Fernand Payette | Canada | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 6

None of the three remaining wrestlers had faced each other. Wittenberg-Fahlkvist was the first match among them (round 6). A split decision resulted in neither wrestler receiving enough points to be eliminated.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Henry Wittenberg | United States | Decision, 2–1 | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden |
| Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Henry Wittenberg | United States | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | 2 | 2 | 4 |

### Round 7

Stöckli-Fahlkvist was the second match among the medalists (round 7). The result was again a split decision, but this time Fahlkvist had enough points to be eliminated. Stöckli and Wittenberg were left, each with two points, not having faced each other.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | Decision, 2–1 | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden |
| Henry Wittenberg | United States | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Henry Wittenberg | United States | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| | Bengt Fahlkvist | Sweden | 4 | 2 | 6 |

### Round 8

With only two wrestlers left, tied on points, round 8 was a de facto gold medal match. Wittenberg won in a split decision. (While neither wrestler had enough points for elimination, there were of course no possible bouts left.)

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Henry Wittenberg | United States | Decision, 2–1 | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| | Henry Wittenberg | United States | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| | Fritz Stöckli | Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 4 |