This Greco-Roman 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]
The Official Report gives final rankings for the top 6 wrestlers. It is not clear why Kangasmäki received the bronze. Of the three men eliminated in this round, each was 1–1 against the others (Szilágyi defeated Kangasmäki, who defeated Möller, who defeated Szilágyi). Szilágyi had the fewest bad points, at 5 to the other two wrestlers' 6. Szilágyi was also 4–1 overall, compared to Kangasmäki's 2–2 and Möller's 3–2. Sports-Reference says that Kangasmäki took bronze based on the victory over Möller, but does not explain Szilágyi finishing 5th.
