Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤56 kilograms), Men
| Date | 1 – 3 August 1932 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California | |
| Participants | 8 from 8 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by negative points, with negative points given for any result short of a fall. Accumulation of 5 negative points eliminated the wrestler. | |
There were only eight entrants. The first round saw Greek Georgios Zervinis pin Canadian Jim Trifunov in only 41 seconds, but neither would factor in the medals. After three rounds, the medalists were decided, with Bob Pearce (USA), Ödön Zombori (HUN) and Aatos Jaskari (FIN) advancing to the medal round. Zombori was leading at that time with only 1 bad point, but Pearce and Jaskari both defeated him by decision to eliminate him. This gave the gold medal to Pearce as he had defeated Jaskari in the first round, and it also gave Jaskari 5 bad points.
Zombori would return to win the gold medal in Berlin and enjoyed a very long career. He was European Champion in freestyle in 1931 and 1933 and in Greco-Roman in 1933, and he actually competed at the World Championships in 1958, after a long absence. Pearce was a top American wrestler, but this was his only international competition.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | RE | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Pearce |  USA | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Ödön Zombori |  HUN | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Aatos Jaskari |  FIN | – | – | Bronze | ||
| Georgios Zervinis |  GRE | Eliminated r3/5 | 6 | ||||
| Joe Reid |  GBR | Eliminated r3/5 | 7 | ||||
| Julien Depuychaffray |  FRA | Eliminated r3/5 | 7 | ||||
| Bror Vingren |  SWE | Eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| Jim Trifunov |  CAN | Eliminated r2/5 | 6 |
Round One (1 August 1932)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Aatos Jaskari | FIN | 0 | |||
| =1 | Georgios Zervinis | GRE | 0 | |||
| =3 | Julien Depuychaffray | FRA | 1 | |||
| =3 | Bob Pearce | USA | 1 | |||
| =5 | Jim Trifunov | CAN | 3 | |||
| =5 | Joe Reid | GBR | 3 | |||
| =5 | Ödön Zombori | HUN | 3 | |||
| =5 | Bror Vingren | SWE | 3 |
| Match #1 | Bob Pearce | USA | decision | Ödön Zombori | HUN |
| Match #2 | Julien Depuychaffray | FRA | decision | Bror Vingren | SWE |
| Match #3 | Aatos Jaskari | FIN | fall (7:14) | Joe Reid | GBR |
| Match #4 | Georgios Zervinis | GRE | fall (0:41) | Jim Trifunov | CAN |
Round Two (2 August 1932)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aatos Jaskari | FIN | 0 | |||
| 2 | Bob Pearce | USA | 2 | |||
| =3 | Georgios Zervinis | GRE | 3 | |||
| =3 | Ödön Zombori | HUN | 3 | |||
| =5 | Julien Depuychaffray | FRA | 4 | |||
| =5 | Joe Reid | GBR | 4 | |||
| =7 | Jim Trifunov | CAN | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =7 | Bror Vingren | SWE | 6 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Bob Pearce | USA | decision | Julien Depuychaffray | FRA |
| Match #2 | Ödön Zombori | HUN | fall (13:20) | Bror Vingren | SWE |
| Match #3 | Joe Reid | GBR | decision | Georgios Zervinis | GRE |
| Match #4 | Aatos Jaskari | FIN | fall (7:24) | Jim Trifunov | CAN |
Round Three (3 August 1932)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aatos Jaskari | FIN | 1 | |||
| 2 | Bob Pearce | USA | 3 | |||
| 3 | Ödön Zombori | HUN | 4 | |||
| 4 | Georgios Zervinis | GRE | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =5 | Julien Depuychaffray | FRA | 7 | eliminated | ||
| =5 | Joe Reid | GBR | 7 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Bob Pearce | USA | decision | Joe Reid | GBR |
| Match #2 | Ödön Zombori | HUN | decision | Julien Depuychaffray | FRA |
| Match #3 | Aatos Jaskari | FIN | decision | Georgios Zervinis | GRE |
Final Round (3 August 1932)
| Match #1 | Bob Pearce | USA | decision | Aatos Jaskari | FIN |
| Match #2 | Ödön Zombori | HUN | decision | Aatos Jaskari | FIN |