[1] Flyweight was the lightest category, including wrestlers weighing up to 52 kilograms (114.6 lb).

[2] 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, removing the slight modification introduced in 1936 and used until 1948 (which had a reduced penalty for a loss by 2–1 decision).

This elimination continued until the medal rounds, which began when 3 wrestlers remained.

Kitano defeated Mollaghasemi in the medal round, leaving each wrestler at a record of 1–1 against the other medalists.

Head-to-head results were the next tie-breaker, with Gemici taking the gold medal due to his round 4 win.