Wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 wrestling events were held at the Ringer-Judo-Halle in München, which also hosted the judo competition. This was one of 20 buildings that were part of a complex termed the Messegelände, which hosted multiple sports in 1972. The Ringer-Judo-Halle was specifically Hall 14 of the Messegelände, but it was the only building newly built for the 1972 Olympics

The wrestling program expanded in 1972 with the addition of two new events in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, giving the 1972 Olympics 20 wrestling events, or 10 in each style. A light-flyweight class was added as well as a super-heavyweight class for both styles. The tournament was again held by a negative (bad) points system, with the same system used as in 1968, with 6 points eliminating a wrestler. Scoring was as follows: win by fall – 0.0 points, win by superior decision – 0.5 points, win by decision – 1.0 points, draw – 2.5 points, loss by decision – 3.0 points, loss by superior decision – 3.5 points, and a loss by fall – 4.0 points. The negative (bad) point system was effectively a double elimination tournament. When three wrestlers remained in any class, they entered a medal round-robin competition, with previous match results carried over.

The Soviet Union crushed the competition in 1972 wrestling, winning 14 medals and 9 events. They led both the freestyle and Greco-Roman medal tables, winning 8 medals and 5 golds in freestyle, and 6 medals and 4 golds in Greco-Roman.