| Date | 28 November – 1 December 1956 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria | |
| Participants | 15 from 15 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. | |
The 1954 World Champion was Soviet Georgian Vakh’tang Balavadze and he would make it to the final round in Melbourne, joined there by Japanese Mitsuo Ikeda and Turkey’s İbrahim Zengin. In rounds three and four, Ikeda had defeated Balavadze and Zengin, so the gold medal was his by default, and he did not have to wrestle in the final round, as earlier round results were carried over. Zengin then defeated Balavadze to win the silver medal.
Balavadze had started out in sambo wrestling, a Soviet variant of judo and wrestling. He would win the World Championships again in 1957 and competed at the 1960 Olympics, but was not a medal contender. Zengin had been third at the 1951 Worlds as a lightweight.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Round Eliminated | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 67 | Mitsuo Ikeda |  JPN | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | 184 | İbrahim Zengin |  TUR | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | 160 | Vakht'ang Balavadze |  URS | – | – | Bronze | ||
| =4 | 66 | Nabi Sorouri |  IRI | – | – | |||
| =4 | 69 | Coenraad de Villiers |  RSA | – | – | |||
| =4 | 70 | Per Berlin |  SWE | – | – | |||
| 61 | Mitko Petkov |  BUL | eliminated r3/5 | 6 | ||||
| 68 | Muhammad Latif |  PAK | eliminated r3/5 | 6 | ||||
| 64 | Alfred Tischendorf |  GER | eliminated r3/5 | 7 | ||||
| 71 | Ernie Fischer |  USA | eliminated r3/5 | 7 | ||||
| 59 | Noel Granger |  AUS | eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| 60 | Ernst Wandaller |  AUT | eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| 65 | Devi Singh |  IND | eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| 62 | Bruno Ochman |  CAN | withdrew r2/5 | 3 | ||||
| 63 | Veikko Rantanen |  FIN | withdrew r2/5 | 3 |
| Date | 28 November 1956 — - |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 61 | Mitko Petkov | BUL | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | 66 | Nabi Sorouri | IRI | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | 69 | Coenraad de Villiers | RSA | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | 184 | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | 0 | – | ||
| =5 | 64 | Alfred Tischendorf | GER | 1 | – | ||
| =5 | 67 | Mitsuo Ikeda | JPN | 1 | – | ||
| =5 | 70 | Per Berlin | SWE | 1 | – | ||
| =5 | 160 | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS | 1 | – | ||
| =9 | 59 | Noel Granger | AUS | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | 60 | Ernst Wandaller | AUT | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | 62 | Bruno Ochman | CAN | 3 | withdrew | ||
| =9 | 63 | Veikko Rantanen | FIN | 3 | withdrew | ||
| =9 | 65 | Devi Singh | IND | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | 68 | Muhammad Latif | PAK | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | 71 | Ernie Fischer | USA | 3 | – |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 28 Nov | Mitko Petkov | BUL | Fall (9:45) | Bruno Ochman | CAN | |
| Match #2 | 28 Nov | Nabi Sorouri | IRI | Fall (9:29) | Devi Singh | IND | |
| Match #3 | 28 Nov | Mitsuo Ikeda | JPN | Decision (3-0) | Ernie Fischer | USA | |
| Match #4 | 28 Nov | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | Fall (6:30) | Ernst Wandaller | AUT | |
| Match #5 | 28 Nov | Per Berlin | SWE | Decision (3-0) | Noel Granger | AUS | |
| Match #6 | 28 Nov | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS | Decision (3-0) | Veikko Rantanen | FIN | |
| Match #7 | 28 Nov | Alfred Tischendorf | GER | Decision (3-0) | Muhammad Latif | PAK | |
| Match #8 | 28 Nov | Coenraad de Villiers | RSA |
| Date | 29 November 1956 — - |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 184 | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | 0 | – | ||
| =2 | 67 | Mitsuo Ikeda | JPN | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | 69 | Coenraad de Villiers | RSA | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | 70 | Per Berlin | SWE | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | 160 | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS | 1 | – | ||
| =6 | 61 | Mitko Petkov | BUL | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | 66 | Nabi Sorouri | IRI | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | 68 | Muhammad Latif | PAK | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | 64 | Alfred Tischendorf | GER | 4 | – | ||
| =9 | 71 | Ernie Fischer | USA | 4 | – | ||
| =11 | 59 | Noel Granger | AUS | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | 60 | Ernst Wandaller | AUT | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | 65 | Devi Singh | IND | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 29 Nov | Coenraad de Villiers | RSA | Decision (3-0) | Mitko Petkov | BUL | |
| Match #2 | 29 Nov | Ernie Fischer | USA | Decision (3-0) | Nabi Sorouri | IRI | |
| Match #3 | 29 Nov | Mitsuo Ikeda | JPN | Fall (9:50) | Devi Singh | IND | |
| Match #4 | 29 Nov | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | Fall (4:00) | Noel Granger | AUS | |
| Match #5 | 29 Nov | Per Berlin | SWE | Fall (8:46) | Ernst Wandaller | AUT | |
| Match #6 | 29 Nov | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS | Fall (2:50) | Alfred Tischendorf | GER | |
| Match #7 | 29 Nov | Muhammad Latif | PAK |
| Date | 30 November 1956 — - |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 184 | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | 67 | Mitsuo Ikeda | JPN | 2 | – | ||
| =2 | 69 | Coenraad de Villiers | RSA | 2 | – | ||
| =2 | 70 | Per Berlin | SWE | 2 | – | ||
| =5 | 66 | Nabi Sorouri | IRI | 4 | – | ||
| =5 | 160 | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS | 4 | – | ||
| =7 | 61 | Mitko Petkov | BUL | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =7 | 68 | Muhammad Latif | PAK | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =9 | 64 | Alfred Tischendorf | GER | 7 | eliminated | ||
| =9 | 71 | Ernie Fischer | USA | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 30 Nov | Coenraad de Villiers | RSA | Decision (3-0) | Muhammad Latif | PAK | |
| Match #2 | 30 Nov | Nabi Sorouri | IRI | Decision (3-0) | Mitko Petkov | BUL | |
| Match #3 | 30 Nov | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Ernie Fischer | USA | |
| Match #4 | 30 Nov | Mitsuo Ikeda | JPN | Decision (3-0) | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS | |
| Match #5 | 30 Nov | Per Berlin | SWE | Decision (3-0) | Alfred Tischendorf | GER |
| Date | 1 December 1956 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 67 | Mitsuo Ikeda | JPN | 3 | – | ||
| =2 | 184 | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | 4 | – | ||
| =2 | 160 | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS | 4 | – | ||
| =4 | 66 | Nabi Sorouri | IRI | 5 | eliminated | ||
| =4 | 69 | Coenraad de Villiers | RSA | 5 | eliminated | ||
| =4 | 70 | Per Berlin | SWE | 5 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 01 Dec | Nabi Sorouri | IRI | Decision (3-0) | Coenraad de Villiers | RSA | |
| Match #2 | 01 Dec | Mitsuo Ikeda | JPN | Decision (3-0) | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | |
| Match #3 | 01 Dec | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS | Fall (11:45) | Per Berlin | SWE |
| Date | 1 December 1956 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 01 Dec | İbrahim Zengin | TUR | Fall (8:03) | Vakht'ang Balavadze | URS |
