| | Event type

Featherweight, Freestyle (≤62 kilograms), Men

Date	28 November – 1 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	13 from 13 countries
Format	Elimination by bad points. Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss by 2-1 decision = 2 points; loss by 3-0 decision = 3 points; loss by fall = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions, thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five bad points eliminated a wrestler.

Japan’s Shozo Sasahara had won the 1954 World Championships, and came to Melbourne as the favorite. The final round consisted of Sasahara, Belgian Jef Mewis, and Finn Erkki Penttilä, but Penttilä had to withdraw with injury which gave Sasahara a walkover, as Mewis received a bye in the first round of the final. Sasahara then won the gold medal with a victory by decision over Mewis.

Sasahara never competed at another Olympics but would later serve as vice-president of FILA, the international wrestling federation, and the Japanese Olympic Committee, and as mayor of the Olympic Village at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Mewis was competing in his second Olympics, after Helsinki, and would also compete in 1960 and 1964, but this was his only Olympic medal.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	RE	Bad Points
1	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	–	–	Gold
2	Jef Mewis	BEL	–	–	Silver
3	Erkki Penttilä	FIN	–	–	Bronze
=4	Bayram Şit	TUR	–	–
=4	Myron Roderick	USA	–	–
=6	Nasser Givehchi	IRI	–	–
=6	Linar Salimullin	URS	–	–
AC	Ram Sarup	IND	Eliminated r3/6	6
AC	Abe Geldenhuys	RSA	Eliminated r3/6	7
AC	Muhammad Nazir	PAK	Eliminated r2/6	5
AC	John Elliott	AUS	Eliminated r2/6	6
AC	Herbie Hall	GBR	Eliminated r2/6	6
AC	Bálint Galántai	HUN	Eliminated r2/6	6

Round One (28 November 1956)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Erkki Penttilä	FIN	0
=1	Bayram Şit	TUR	0
=1	Linar Salimullin	URS	0
=4	Jef Mewis	BEL	1
=4	Nasser Givehchi	IRI	1
=4	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	1
=4	Myron Roderick	USA	1
=8	John Elliott	AUS	3
=8	Herbie Hall	GBR	3
=8	Bálint Galántai	HUN	3
=8	Ram Sarup	IND	3
=8	Muhammad Nazir	PAK	3
=8	Abe Geldenhuys	RSA	3

Match #1	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	decision (3-0)	Muhammad Nazir	PAK
Match #2	Bayram Şit	TUR	fall (9:00)	John Elliott	AUS
Match #3	Myron Roderick	USA	decision (3-0)	Bálint Galántai	HUN
Match #4	Nasser Givehchi	IRI	decision (3-0)	Abe Geldenhuys	RSA
Match #5	Erkki Penttilä	FIN	fall (11:00)	Herbie Hall	GBR
Match #6	Jef Mewis	BEL	decision (3-0)	Ram Sarup	IND
Match #7	Linar Salimullin	URS	bye

Round Two (29 November 1956)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Nasser Givehchi	IRI	1
=1	Bayram Şit	TUR	1
=1	Myron Roderick	USA	1
=4	Jef Mewis	BEL	2
=4	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	2
=4	Linar Salimullin	URS	2
=7	Erkki Penttilä	FIN	3
=7	Ram Sarup	IND	3
9	Abe Geldenhuys	RSA	4
10	Muhammad Nazir	PAK	5	eliminated
=11	John Elliott	AUS	6	eliminated
=11	Herbie Hall	GBR	6	eliminated
=11	Bálint Galántai	HUN	6	eliminated

Match #1	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	decision (2-1)	Linar Salimullin	URS
Match #2	Bayram Şit	TUR	decision (2-1)	Muhammad Nazir	PAK
Match #3	Myron Roderick	USA	fall (2:00)	John Elliott	AUS
Match #4	Abe Geldenhuys	RSA	decision (3-0)	Bálint Galántai	HUN
Match #5	Nasser Givehchi	IRI	fall (5:00)	Herbie Hall	GBR
Match #6	Jef Mewis	BEL	decision (3-0)	Erkki Penttilä	FIN
Match #7	Ram Sarup	IND	bye

Round Three (30 November 1956)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Jef Mewis	BEL	2
=1	Myron Roderick	USA	2
=3	Nasser Givehchi	IRI	3
=3	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	3
=3	Linar Salimullin	URS	3
=6	Erkki Penttilä	FIN	4
=6	Bayram Şit	TUR	4
8	Ram Sarup	IND	6	eliminated
9	Abe Geldenhuys	RSA	7	eliminated

Match #1	Linar Salimullin	URS	decision (3-0)	Ram Sarup	IND
Match #2	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	decision (3-0)	Bayram Şit	TUR
Match #3	Myron Roderick	USA	decision (3-0)	Abe Geldenhuys	RSA
Match #4	Erkki Penttilä	FIN	decision (2-1)	Nasser Givehchi	IRI
Match #5	Jef Mewis	BEL	bye

Round Four (1 December 1956)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Jef Mewis	BEL	3
=2	Erkki Penttilä	FIN	4
=2	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	4
=4	Bayram Şit	TUR	5	eliminated
=4	Myron Roderick	USA	5	eliminated
=6	Nasser Givehchi	IRI	6	eliminated
=6	Linar Salimullin	URS	6	eliminated

Match #1	Jef Mewis	BEL	decision (3-0)	Linar Salimullin	URS
Match #2	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	decision (3-0)	Myron Roderick	USA
Match #3	Bayram Şit	TUR	decision (3-0)	Nasser Givehchi	IRI
Match #4	Erkki Penttilä	FIN	bye

Round Five (1 December 1956 — -)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Jef Mewis	BEL	3
2	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	4

Match #1	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	walkover
Match #2	Jef Mewis	BEL	bye

Final Round (1 December 1956)

Match #1	Shozo Sasahara	JPN	decision	Jef Mewis	BEL