| Date | 20 – 24 July 1976 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Centre Pierre-Charbonneau, Parc olympique, Montréal, Québec | |
| Participants | 18 from 18 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by negative points, with negative points given for any result short of a fall. Accumulation of 6 negative points eliminated the wrestler. | |
The last few major internationals had been spread among several different wrestlers, but Soviet Anatoly Bykov had won the 1975 World title. Bykov kept winning, aided by a controversial victory in round five over East German Klaus-Peter Göpfert, who was disqualified for passivity with only six seconds left in the match and the score tied, 5-5. Bykov then won the gold medal with a final round victory over Czechoslovak Vítězslav Mácha, the defending champion. Bykov would also win a silver medal in this class in 1980 at Moskva. Mácha was competing in his third Olympics and would also compete in 1980, placing sixth in this class.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | RE | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | – | – | |||
| 5 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | – | – | |||
| 6 | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | – | – | |||
| 7 | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | – | – | |||
| 8 | Petros Galaktopoulos |  GRE | – | – | |||
| Yasuo Nagatomo |  JPN | Eliminated r3/6 | 7,0 | ||||
| Yanko Shopov |  BUL | Eliminated r3/6 | 7,5 | ||||
| Hans Kiss |  AUT | Eliminated r3/6 | 8,0 | ||||
| Stanisław Krzesiński |  POL | Eliminated r3/6 | 8,0 | ||||
| Idalberto Barban |  CUB | Eliminated r3/6 | 8,5 | ||||
| John Matthews |  USA | Eliminated r2/6 | 7,0 | ||||
| Brian Renken |  CAN | Eliminated r2/6 | 8,0 | ||||
| Mihály Toma |  HUN | Eliminated r2/6 | 8,0 | ||||
| Brahim Toughza |  MAR | Withdrew r2/6 | 4,0 | ||||
| Jamtsyn Davaajav |  MGL | Withdrew r2/6 | 4,0 | 
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Hans Kiss |  AUT | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Yanko Shopov |  BUL | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Petros Galaktopoulos |  GRE | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Yasuo Nagatomo |  JPN | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | 0,0 | |||
| 8 | Idalberto Barban |  CUB | 1,0 | |||
| 9 | John Matthews |  USA | 3,0 | |||
| =10 | Brian Renken |  CAN | 4,0 | |||
| =10 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | 4,0 | |||
| =10 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | 4,0 | |||
| =10 | Mihály Toma |  HUN | 4,0 | |||
| =10 | Brahim Toughza |  MAR | 4,0 | withdrew | ||
| =10 | Jamtsyn Davaajav |  MGL | 4,0 | withdrew | ||
| =10 | Stanisław Krzesiński |  POL | 4,0 | |||
| =10 | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | 4,0 | |||
| =10 | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | 4,0 | 
| Match #1 | Yasuo Nagatomo |  JPN | injury (5:25) | Jamtsyn Davaajav |  MGL | 
| Match #2 | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | DQ (passivity) | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | 
| Match #3 | Hans Kiss |  AUT | DQ (---) | Brahim Toughza |  MAR | 
| Match #4 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | DQ (5:15) | Stanisław Krzesiński |  POL | 
| Match #5 | Idalberto Barban |  CUB | decision (13-10) | John Matthews |  USA | 
| Match #6 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | DQ (8:17) | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | 
| Match #7 | Petros Galaktopoulos |  GRE | fall (4:54) | Brian Renken |  CAN | 
| Match #8 | Yanko Shopov |  BUL | DQ (7:54) | Mihály Toma |  HUN | 
| Match #9 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | DQ (7:56) | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | 
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | 0,0 | |||
| 4 | Petros Galaktopoulos |  GRE | 3,0 | |||
| =5 | Hans Kiss |  AUT | 4,0 | |||
| =5 | Yanko Shopov |  BUL | 4,0 | |||
| =5 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | 4,0 | |||
| =5 | Yasuo Nagatomo |  JPN | 4,0 | |||
| =5 | Stanisław Krzesiński |  POL | 4,0 | |||
| =5 | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | 4,0 | |||
| =5 | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | 4,0 | |||
| =12 | Idalberto Barban |  CUB | 5,0 | |||
| =12 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | 5,0 | |||
| 14 | John Matthews |  USA | 7,0 | eliminated | ||
| =15 | Brian Renken |  CAN | 8,0 | eliminated | ||
| =15 | Mihály Toma |  HUN | 8,0 | eliminated | 
| Match #1 | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | DQ (6:50) | Yasuo Nagatomo |  JPN | 
| Match #2 | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | fall (2:40) | Hans Kiss |  AUT | 
| Match #3 | Stanisław Krzesiński |  POL | DQ (7:53) | Idalberto Barban |  CUB | 
| Match #4 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | DQ (4:24) | John Matthews |  USA | 
| Match #5 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | decision (9-6) | Petros Galaktopoulos |  GRE | 
| Match #6 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | DQ (6:57) | Brian Renken |  CAN | 
| Match #7 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | DQ (4:34) | Yanko Shopov |  BUL | 
| Match #8 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | DQ (7:44) | Mihály Toma |  HUN | 
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | 0,0 | |||
| =2 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | 0,5 | |||
| =2 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | 0,5 | |||
| =4 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | 4,0 | |||
| =4 | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | 4,0 | |||
| =6 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | 5,0 | |||
| =6 | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | 5,0 | |||
| =8 | Petros Galaktopoulos |  GRE | 7,0 | eliminated | ||
| =8 | Yasuo Nagatomo |  JPN | 7,0 | eliminated | ||
| 10 | Yanko Shopov |  BUL | 7,5 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | Hans Kiss |  AUT | 8,0 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | Stanisław Krzesiński |  POL | 8,0 | eliminated | ||
| 13 | Idalberto Barban |  CUB | 8,5 | eliminated | 
| Match #1 | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | decision (10-5) | Yasuo Nagatomo |  JPN | 
| Match #2 | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | fall (5:41) | Hans Kiss |  AUT | 
| Match #3 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | fall (1:14) | Stanisław Krzesiński |  POL | 
| Match #4 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | decision (12-3) | Idalberto Barban |  CUB | 
| Match #5 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | decision (12-2) | Yanko Shopov |  BUL | 
| Match #6 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | fall (3:55) | Petros Galaktopoulos |  GRE | 
| Match #7 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | bye | 
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | 1,0 | |||
| 2 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | 1,5 | |||
| 3 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | 3,5 | |||
| 4 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | 4,0 | |||
| 5 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | 6,0 | |||
| 6 | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | 7,0 | eliminated | ||
| 7 | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | 8,0 | eliminated | 
| Match #1 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | decision (7-6) | Gheorghe Ciobotaru |  ROU | 
| Match #2 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | decision (9-5) | Jan Karlsson |  SWE | 
| Match #3 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | decision (4-3) | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | 
| Match #4 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | bye | 
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | 1,0 | |||
| 2 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | 1,5 | |||
| 3 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | 4,0 | |||
| 4 | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | 7,5 | eliminated | ||
| 5 | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | 10,0 | eliminated | 
| Match #1 | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | fall (2:09) | Mikko Huhtala |  FIN | 
| Match #2 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | DQ (8:54) | Klaus-Peter Göpfert |  GDR | 
| Match #3 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | bye | 
| Match #1 | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH | DQ (8:52) | Karl-Heinz Helbing |  FRG | 
| Match #2 | Anatoly Bykov |  URS | decision (7-3) | Vítězslav Mácha |  TCH |