| Date | 30 July – 1 August 1928 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Krachtsportgebouw, Amsterdam | |
| Participants | 11 from 11 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with separate single-elimination tournaments for 2nd- and 3rd-place. Second-place tournament conducted among those losing to the winner. 3rd-place tournament conducted among those losing to the winner or runner-up. | |
No international freestyle events had been contested since the 1924 Olympics, so it was difficult to choose a favorite. Only one of the 11 entrants had previously won an Olympic medal and that was Finland’s Arvo Haavisto, who won bronze as a lightweight in 1924. Haavisto won three straight matches to coast to the gold medal, defeating American Lloyd Appleton in the final match. Appleton would get through the second-place tournament to win the silver medal, while the bronze went to Canadian Maurice Letchford.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arvo Haavisto |  FIN | Gold | ||
| 2 | Lloyd Appleton |  USA | Silver | ||
| 3 | Maurice Letchford |  CAN | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Jean Jourlin |  FRA | |||
| =5 | Harry Morris |  AUS | |||
| =5 | Bob Cook |  GBR | |||
| =7 | Alfred Praks |  EST | |||
| =7 | Hyacinthe Roosen |  BEL | |||
| =7 | Fritz Käsermann |  SUI | |||
| =10 | Theofilos Tomazos |  GRE | |||
| =10 | Johannes Jacobsen |  DEN | |||
| David Gardiner | GBR | ||||
| Henri Dünki | SUI | ||||
| Ernest Neuenschwander | SUI | ||||
| Leslie Beers | USA |
| Date | 30 July 1928 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 30 Jul | Lloyd Appleton | USA | Bob Cook | GBR | ||
| Match #2 | 30 Jul | Alfred Praks | EST | Theofilos Tomazos | GRE | ||
| Match #3 | 30 Jul | Hyacinthe Roosen | BEL | Johannes Jacobsen | DEN | ||
| Match #4 | 30 Jul | Maurice Letchford | CAN | ||||
| Match #5 | 30 Jul | Fritz Käsermann | SUI | ||||
| Match #6 | 30 Jul | Jean Jourlin | FRA | ||||
| Match #7 | 30 Jul | Harry Morris | AUS | ||||
| Match #8 | 30 Jul | Arvo Haavisto | FIN |
| Date | 30 July 1928 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 30 Jul | Lloyd Appleton | USA | Alfred Praks | EST | ||
| Match #2 | 30 Jul | Maurice Letchford | CAN | Hyacinthe Roosen | BEL | ||
| Match #3 | 30 Jul | Jean Jourlin | FRA | Fritz Käsermann | SUI | ||
| Match #4 | 30 Jul | Arvo Haavisto | FIN | Harry Morris | AUS |
| Date | 31 July 1928 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 31 Jul | Lloyd Appleton | USA | Maurice Letchford | CAN | ||
| Match #2 | 31 Jul | Arvo Haavisto | FIN | Jean Jourlin | FRA |
| Date | 1 August 1928 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 01 Aug | Arvo Haavisto | FIN | Lloyd Appleton | USA |
| Date | 1 August 1928 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 01 Aug | Lloyd Appleton | USA | Jean Jourlin | FRA | ||
| Match #2 | 01 Aug | Lloyd Appleton | USA | Harry Morris | AUS |
| Date | 1 August 1928 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 01 Aug | Maurice Letchford | CAN | Bob Cook | GBR | ||
| Match #2 | 01 Aug | Jean Jourlin | FRA | Harry Morris | AUS | ||
| Match #3 | 01 Aug | Maurice Letchford | CAN | Jean Jourlin | FRA |
