The men's freestyle welterweight competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles took place from 1 August to 3 August at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1][2] This weight class was limited to wrestlers weighing up to 72kg.[3]
This freestyle wrestling competition did not use the single-elimination bracket format previously used for Olympic freestyle wrestling but instead followed the format that was introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman wrestling, using an elimination system based on the accumulation of points. 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. 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.[4]
Schedule
Date
Event
1 August 1932
Round 1
2 August 1932
Round 2 Round 3
3 August 1932
Round 4 Final round
Results
Round 1
Of the four bouts, three were won by fall to give the victors 0 points, along with Zombori who had a bye. Földeak had the only win by decision, starting with 1 point. The four losers each received 3 points. Lopez withdrew after his loss.[5]
All three of the remaining first-round losers lost again and were eliminated. In the bout between two 0-point wrestlers, MacDonald won by fall to stay at 0 points.[5]
Leino won by default (Zombori defaulting and being eliminated) and Földeak had a bye, staying at 1 and 2 points, respectively. The only contested bout featured van Bebber and MacDonald, with the American beating the Canadian by decision.[5]
MacDonald eliminated Földeak in this round, leaving three wrestlers. The bout between Leino and van Bebber therefore became the final and was considered part of the final round.[6]
