title: 1956 Wrestling World Cup
text: # 1956 Wrestling World Cup
  
  The 1956 Wrestling World Cup was held on May 25–31 in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Mithatpaşa Stadium, under the auspices of FILA. The attendance of the event was around 20 thousand spectators at the stadium. Freestyle wrestling competition was held from May 25 to May 27, 61 wrestlers from 12 countries participated in the freestyle event. Greco-Roman wrestling competition was held from May 29 to May 31, 89 wrestlers from 16 countries participated in the Greco-Roman event. The team victory in the freestyle event was won by the Turkish National Team, which scored 44 points out of 48 possible, followed by the USSR National Team. The team victory in the Greco-Roman event was won by the USSR team, which scored 39 points. The overall team victory was won by the Soviet Union, therefore the USSR National Team won the World Cup.
  
  ## Participating teams
  
  The competition was attended by teams of the following states and independent territories: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, Finland, France, West Germany, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Saarland, Soviet Union, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Yemen, Yugoslavia. The United States didn't have a team in competition.
  
  ## Medal summary
  
  ### Men's freestyle
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Flyweight 52 kg | Hüseyin Akbaş Turkey | Mirian Tsalkalamanidze Soviet Union | Kazuo Dzida Japan |
  | Bantamweight 57 kg | Mustafa Dağıstanlı Turkey | Bayram Giannini Iran | Minoru Iizuka Japan |
  | Featherweight 62 kg | Shozo Sasahara Japan | Linar Salimullin Soviet Union | Bayram Şit Turkey |
  | Lightweight 67 kg | Alimbeg Bestayev Soviet Union | Georgy Zaichev Bulgaria | Hayrullah Şahin Turkey |
  | Welterweight 73 kg | İbrahim Zengin Turkey | Said Murtazov Bulgaria | Hans Sommer Germany |
  | Middleweight 79 kg | İsmet Atlı Turkey | Nikola Stanchev Bulgaria | Kazuo Katsuramoto Japan |
  | Light heavyweight 87 kg | Adil Atan Turkey | Boris Kulayev Soviet Union | Hossein Nuri Iran |
  | Heavyweight +87 kg | Hamit Kaplan Turkey | Arsen Mekokishvili Soviet Union | Husein Mehmedov Bulgaria |
  
  ### Men's Greco-Roman
  
  | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Flyweight 52 kg | Dursun Ali Erbaş Turkey | Istvan Barani Hungary | Simon Saar |
  | Bantamweight 57 kg | Yaşar Yılmaz Turkey | Dinko Petrov Bulgaria | Francisc Horvath Romania |
  | Featherweight 62 kg | Vladimir Stashkevich Soviet Union | Osman Kambur Turkey | Imre Polyák Hungary |
  | Lightweight 67 kg | Vladimir Rosin Soviet Union | Kyösti Lehtonen Finland | Rıza Doğan Turkey |
  | Welterweight 73 kg | Vladimir Maneev Soviet Union | Mithat Bayrak Turkey | Veikko Rantanen Finland |
  | Middleweight 79 kg | Givi Kartozia Soviet Union | Branislav Simić Yugoslavia | Horst Hess West Germany |
  | Light heavyweight 87 kg | Arkady Tkachev Soviet Union | Petko Sirakov Bulgaria | Gyula Kovács Hungary |
  | Heavyweight +87 kg | Johannes Kotkas Soviet Union | Hamit Kaplan Turkey | Husein Mehmedov Bulgaria |
  
  ## Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament
  
  * Alimbeg Bestayev (Soviet Union)
  