Freestyle wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics - up to 68 kg

Fight on 1972 Summer Olympics
Greco-Roman style
Up to 48 kg		Up to 74 kg
Up to 52 kg		Up to 82 kg
Up to 57 kg		Up to 90 kg
Up to 62 kg		Up to 100 kg
Up to 68 kg		Over 100 kg
Freestyle
Up to 48 kg		Up to 74 kg
Up to 52 kg		Up to 82 kg
Up to 57 kg		Up to 90 kg
Up to 62 kg		Up to 100 kg
Up to 68 kg		Over 100 kg

Freestyle wrestling competitions in the framework of the 1972 Olympic Games in lightweight (up to 68 kilograms) were held in Munich from 27 to 31 August 1971 at Wrestling-Judo Hall.

The tournament was held on the system with the accrual of penalty points.

• 0 penalty points in case of a clear victory or disqualification of the opponent, as well as no-show;
• 0.5 penalty points in case of victory due to obvious technical superiority (by eight or more points);
• 1 penalty point in case of victory by points (with a difference of less than eight points);
• 2 penalty points in the case of an effective draw;
• 2.5 penalty points in the case of an ineffectual draw (passive draw);
• 3 penalty points in case of defeat by points (with a difference of less than eight points);
• 3.5 penalty points in case of defeat due to the obvious technical superiority of the opponent (by eight or more points);
• 4 penalty points in case of a pure defeat or disqualification as well as non-appearance.

The three remaining wrestlers reached the final, where they held meetings with each other. Meetings between the finalists, held in the preliminary bouts, were taken into account. The fight, according to the tournament regulations, lasted 9 minutes in three three-minute periods, the less active wrestler was put in the pit. Could be assigned overtime.

In a lightweight weight, 25 participants struggled. The youngest participant was 17-year-old Joe Gilligan, the oldest-aged 39-year-old Stefanos Ioannidis. The undisputed favorite of the tournament was the 1971 world champion American Dan Gable , who is often called the greatest US wrestler in history. He could compete five times in a row (1965-1970), world champion Abdullah Movahed , but the Iranian wrestler was no longer in its former form, but received an injury at the very first meeting and withdrew from the tournament. Gable mercilessly dealt with all rivals and expectedly reached the final, along with Japanese Kikuo Wada and Soviet wrestler Ruslan Ashuraliev . In the final, Gable had to fight only against Ashuraliev, since the American had won Wadu during the preliminary tournament. Ashuraliev lost both Geybla and Vade in the final, respectively Geybl won the gold medal, Vada the silver medal, and Ashuraliyev the bronze.