Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle light heavyweight

The men's freestyle light heavyweight competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London took place from 29 July to 31 July at the Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1] Light heavyweight was the second-heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing 79 to 87 kilograms (174.2 to 191.8 lb).[2]

Men's freestyle light heavyweight
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
VenueEmpress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Dates29–31 July
Competitors15 from 15 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Henry Wittenberg  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Fritz Stöckli  Switzerland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bengt Fahlkvist  Sweden
← 1936
1952 →

This freestyle wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman and at the 1932 Summer Olympics for freestyle wrestling, with the slight modification introduced in 1936. Each round featured all wrestlers pairing off and wrestling one bout (with one wrestler having a bye if there were an odd number). The loser received 3 points if the loss was by fall or unanimous decision and 2 points if the decision was 2-1 (this was the modification from prior years, where all losses were 3 points). The winner received 1 point if the win was by decision and 0 points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least 5 points was eliminated.[3]

Results

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Round 1

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Fernand Payette   Canada Fall Robert Landesmann   France
Spyros Defteraios   Greece Fall Mohamed Ragab El-Zaim   Egypt
Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden Decision, 3–0 Oscar Verona   Italy
Pat Morton   South Africa Decision, 3–0 Mansour Mir Ghavami   Iran
Muharrem Candaş   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Karel Istaz   Belgium
Johnny Sullivan   Great Britain Decision, 3–0 József Tarányi   Hungary
Henry Wittenberg   United States Decision, 3–0 Pekka Mellavuo   Finland
Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Spyros Defteraios   Greece 0 0 0
1 Fernand Payette   Canada 0 0 0
1 Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland 0 0 0
4 Muharrem Candaş   Turkey 0 1 1
4 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 0 1 1
4 Pat Morton   South Africa 0 1 1
4 Johnny Sullivan   Great Britain 0 1 1
4 Henry Wittenberg   United States 0 1 1
9 Mohamed Ragab El-Zaim   Egypt 0 3 3
9 Karel Istaz   Belgium 0 3 3
9 Robert Landesmann   France 0 3 3
9 Pekka Mellavuo   Finland 0 3 3
9 Mansour Mir Ghavami   Iran 0 3 3
9 József Tarányi   Hungary 0 3 3
9 Oscar Verona   Italy 0 3 3

Round 2

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland Fall Robert Landesmann   France
Fernand Payette   Canada Fall Spyros Defteraios   Greece
Oscar Verona   Italy Fall Mohamed Ragab El-Zaim   Egypt
Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden Decision, 3–0 Pat Morton   South Africa
József Tarányi   Hungary Decision, 3–0 Mansour Mir Ghavami   Iran
Henry Wittenberg   United States Fall Johnny Sullivan   Great Britain
Muharrem Candaş   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Pekka Mellavuo   Finland
Karel Istaz   Belgium Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Fernand Payette   Canada 0 0 0
1 Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland 0 0 0
3 Henry Wittenberg   United States 1 0 1
4 Muharrem Candaş   Turkey 1 1 2
4 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 1 1 2
6 Spyros Defteraios   Greece 0 3 3
6 Karel Istaz   Belgium 3 0 3
6 Oscar Verona   Italy 3 0 3
9 Pat Morton   South Africa 1 3 4
9 Johnny Sullivan   Great Britain 1 3 4
9 József Tarányi   Hungary 3 1 4
12 Mohamed Ragab El-Zaim   Egypt 3 3 6
12 Robert Landesmann   France 3 3 6
12 Pekka Mellavuo   Finland 3 3 6
12 Mansour Mir Ghavami   Iran 3 3 6

Round 3

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland Fall Karel Istaz   Belgium
Fernand Payette   Canada Decision, 3–0 Oscar Verona   Italy
Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden Fall Spyros Defteraios   Greece
Pat Morton   South Africa Decision, 2–1 Johnny Sullivan   Great Britain
Henry Wittenberg   United States Fall József Tarányi   Hungary
Muharrem Candaş   Turkey Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland 0 0 0
2 Fernand Payette   Canada 0 1 1
2 Henry Wittenberg   United States 1 0 1
4 Muharrem Candaş   Turkey 2 0 2
4 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 2 0 2
6 Pat Morton   South Africa 4 1 5
7 Spyros Defteraios   Greece 3 3 6
7 Karel Istaz   Belgium 3 3 6
7 Johnny Sullivan   Great Britain 4 2 6
7 Oscar Verona   Italy 3 3 6
11 József Tarányi   Hungary 4 3 7

Round 4

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland Decision, 2–1 Muharrem Candaş   Turkey
Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden Fall Fernand Payette   Canada
Henry Wittenberg   United States Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland 0 1 1
1 Henry Wittenberg   United States 1 0 1
3 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 2 0 2
4 Muharrem Candaş   Turkey 2 2 4
4 Fernand Payette   Canada 1 3 4

Round 5

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Henry Wittenberg   United States Fall Muharrem Candaş   Turkey
Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland Fall Fernand Payette   Canada
Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland 1 0 1
1 Henry Wittenberg   United States 1 0 1
3 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 2 0 2
4 Muharrem Candaş   Turkey 4 3 7
4 Fernand Payette   Canada 4 3 7

Round 6

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None of the three remaining wrestlers had faced each other. Wittenberg-Fahlkvist was the first match among them (round 6). A split decision resulted in neither wrestler receiving enough points to be eliminated.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Henry Wittenberg   United States Decision, 2–1 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden
Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland 1 0 1
2 Henry Wittenberg   United States 1 1 2
3 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 2 2 4

Round 7

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Stöckli-Fahlkvist was the second match among the medalists (round 7). The result was again a split decision, but this time Fahlkvist had enough points to be eliminated. Stöckli and Wittenberg were left, each with two points, not having faced each other.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland Decision, 2–1 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden
Henry Wittenberg   United States Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland 1 1 2
2 Henry Wittenberg   United States 2 0 2
  Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 4 2 6

Round 8

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With only two wrestlers left, tied on points, round 8 was a de facto gold medal match. Wittenberg won in a split decision. (While neither wrestler had enough points for elimination, there were of course no possible bouts left.)

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Henry Wittenberg   United States Decision, 2–1 Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
  Henry Wittenberg   United States 2 1 3
  Fritz Stöckli   Switzerland 2 2 4

References

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  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Light Heavyweight, Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  2. ^ Official Report 1951, p. 511.
  3. ^ Official Report 1951, p. 496.

General