| | Event type
Welterweight, Freestyle (≤74 kilograms), Men
| Date | 31 July – 1 August 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall G) | |
| Participants | 22 from 22 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with classification rounds for placements. | |
Russian Buvaysar Saytiyev had won the 1995 Worlds and the 1996 European Championships and came to Atlanta as the clear favorite. He would soon become one of the most dominant wrestlers of the next decade, winning the gold medal in 1996 without being pressured. In the final he met defending gold medalist Park Jang-Sun of Korea, defeating him easily, 5-0. Saytiyev had already defeated the 1995 World Champion, German Alexander Leipold, and the 1988 Olympic silver medalist, American Kenny Monday. Saytiyev was expected to defend his gold medal in Sydney, but was upset early in the tournament. He returned to win the gold medal in this class again in 2004 and 2008, however, making him the only Olympic wrestler to win three gold medals in the same class, but not consecutively. He would also finish his career, after 2008, with six World and six European titles.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buvaysar Saytiyev |  RUS | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Park Jang-Sun |  KOR | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Takuya Ota |  JPN | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Plamen Paskalev |  BUL | – | – | |||
| 5 | Alexander Leipold |  GER | – | – | |||
| 6 | Kenny Monday |  USA | – | – | |||
| 7 | Victor Peicov |  MDA | – | – | |||
| 8 | Məmmədsalam Haciyev |  AZE | – | – | |||
| 9 | David Hohl |  CAN | 9 | 26 | |||
| 10 | Valerij Verhušin |  MKD | 8 | 23 | |||
| 11 | Alberto Rodríguez |  CUB | 8 | 14 | |||
| 12 | Boris Budayev |  UZB | 7 | 11 | |||
| 13 | Árpád Ritter |  HUN | 6 | 17 | |||
| 14 | Ihar Kozyr |  BLR | 5 | 8 | |||
| 15 | Radion Kertanti |  SVK | 4 | 5 | |||
| 16 | Eisa Momeni |  IRI | 4 | 4 | |||
| 17 | Rein Ozoline |  AUS | 1 | 12 | |||
| 18 | Turan Ceylan |  TUR | 1 | 3 | |||
| 19 | Magomed Kurugliyev |  KAZ | 1 | 1 | |||
| =20 | Anthony Avon Blume |  CMR | 0 | 0 | |||
| =20 | Felipe Guzmán |  MEX | 0 | 0 | |||
| =20 | Lazaros Loizidis |  GRE | 0 | 0 |
Round One (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Boris Budayev | UZB | decision (4-3) (5:00) | David Hohl | CAN |
| Match #2 | Valerij Verhušin | MKD | decision (15-7) (5:00) | Rein Ozoline | AUS |
| Match #3 | Takuya Ota | JPN | grand superiority (11-0) (3:00) | Felipe Guzmán | MEX |
| Match #4 | Ihar Kozyr | BLR | decision (5-3) (6:24) | Árpád Ritter | HUN |
| Match #5 | Park Jang-Sun | KOR | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Məmmədsalam Haciyev | AZE |
| Match #6 | Victor Peicov | MDA | decision (7-1) (5:00) | Magomed Kurugliyev | KAZ |
| Match #7 | Radion Kertanti | SVK | decision (4-3) (5:00) | Turan Ceylan | TUR |
| Match #8 | Kenny Monday | USA | decision (1-1) (8:00) | Alberto Rodríguez | CUB |
| Match #9 | Buvaysar Saytiyev | RUS | decision (8-0) (5:00) | Eisa Momeni | IRI |
| Match #10 | Alexander Leipold | GER | decision (6-0) (5:00) | Lazaros Loizidis | GRE |
| Match #11 | Plamen Paskalev | BUL | grand superiority (10-0) (1:41) | Anthony Avon Blume | CMR |
Round Two (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Valerij Verhušin | MKD | fall (8-0) (2:04) | Boris Budayev | UZB |
| Match #2 | Takuya Ota | JPN | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Ihar Kozyr | BLR |
| Match #3 | Park Jang-Sun | KOR | decision (3-0) (6:11) | Victor Peicov | MDA |
| Match #4 | Kenny Monday | USA | decision (5-1) (5:00) | Radion Kertanti | SVK |
| Match #5 | Buvaysar Saytiyev | RUS | decision (3-1) (6:00) | Alexander Leipold | GER |
| Match #6 | Plamen Paskalev | BUL | bye |
Quarter-Finals (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Plamen Paskalev | BUL | grand superiority (12-0) (1:15) | Valerij Verhušin | MKD |
| Match #2 | Park Jang-Sun | KOR | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Takuya Ota | JPN |
| Match #3 | Kenny Monday | USA | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Buvaysar Saytiyev | RUS | bye |
Semi-Finals (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Park Jang-Sun | KOR | decision (5-3) (5:00) | Plamen Paskalev | BUL |
| Match #2 | Buvaysar Saytiyev | RUS | decision (6-1) (5:00) | Kenny Monday | USA |
Final Round (1 August 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Buvaysar Saytiyev | RUS | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Park Jang-Sun | KOR |
| Match 3/4 | Takuya Ota | JPN | decision (5-3) (5:16) | Plamen Paskalev | BUL |
| Match 5/6 | Alexander Leipold | GER | default (0-0) (0:00) | Kenny Monday | USA |
| Match 7/8 | Victor Peicov | MDA | default (0-0) (0:00) | Məmmədsalam Haciyev | AZE |
Classification Round Two (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | David Hohl | CAN | decision (11-5) (5:00) | Rein Ozoline | AUS |
| Match #2 | Árpád Ritter | HUN | grand superiority (12-0) (2:07) | Felipe Guzmán | MEX |
| Match #3 | Məmmədsalam Haciyev | AZE | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Magomed Kurugliyev | KAZ |
| Match #4 | Alberto Rodríguez | CUB | decision (7-0) (5:00) | Turan Ceylan | TUR |
| Match #5 | Eisa Momeni | IRI | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Lazaros Loizidis | GRE |
| Match #6 | Anthony Avon Blume | CMR | bye |
Classification Round Three (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | David Hohl | CAN | grand superiority (10-0) (3:56) | Anthony Avon Blume | CMR |
| Match #2 | Məmmədsalam Haciyev | AZE | decision (3-2) (7:04) | Árpád Ritter | HUN |
| Match #3 | Alberto Rodríguez | CUB | decision (4-1) (7:45) | Eisa Momeni | IRI |
| Match #4 | Boris Budayev | UZB | decision (4-2) (5:49) | Ihar Kozyr | BLR |
| Match #5 | Victor Peicov | MDA | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Radion Kertanti | SVK |
| Match #6 | Alexander Leipold | GER | bye |
Classification Round Four (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Alexander Leipold | GER | decision (10-2) (5:00) | David Hohl | CAN |
| Match #2 | Məmmədsalam Haciyev | AZE | decision (6-2) (5:00) | Alberto Rodríguez | CUB |
| Match #3 | Victor Peicov | MDA | decision (5-3) (5:00) | Boris Budayev | UZB |
| Match #4 | Takuya Ota | JPN | decision (7-0) (5:00) | Valerij Verhušin | MKD |
Classification Round Five (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Alexander Leipold | GER | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Məmmədsalam Haciyev | AZE |
| Match #2 | Takuya Ota | JPN | decision (5-4) (5:37) | Victor Peicov | MDA |
Classification Round Six (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Plamen Paskalev | BUL | decision (8-4) (5:00) | Alexander Leipold | GER |
| Match #2 | Takuya Ota | JPN | decision (4-2) (7:04) | Kenny Monday | USA |