The freestyle bantamweight was one of five freestyle wrestling weight classes contested on the Wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Like all other wrestling events, it was open only to men. The bantamweight was the lightest class, allowing wrestlers of up to 54 kilograms (119 lb). Each nation could enter up to 12 wrestlers.Official Report, p. 40.
11 British athletes, 1 American, and 1 Canadian participated.
Competition format
The event was a single-elimination tournament with a bronze medal match between the semifinal losers. The final and bronze medal match were best two-of-three, while all other rounds were a single bout. Bouts were 15 minutes, unless one wrestler lost by fall (two shoulders on the ground at the same time). Other than falls, decisions were made by the judges or, if they did not agree, the referee.
Wrestlers could "take hold how and where they please[d]" except that "hair, flesh, ears, private parts, or clothes may not be seized"; striking, scratching, twisting fingers, butting, and kicking were prohibited. Holds "obtained that the fear of breakage or dislocation of a limb shall induce a wrestler to give the fall" were outlawed, and particularly the double-nelson, hammerlock, strangle, half-strangle, scissors, hang, flying mare with palm uppermost, and the foot twist.Official Report, pp. 621–22.
Results
Standings
Place Wrestler Nation 1 George Mehnert United States of America 2 William J. Press Great Britain 3 Aubert Côté Canada 4 Frederick Tomkins Great Britain 5 Fred Davis Great Britain Burt Sansom Great Britain George Saunders Great Britain Harry Sprenger Great Britain 9 John Cox Great Britain William Cox Great Britain Frederick Knight Great Britain Guy Schwan Great Britain Henry Witherall Great Britain
Bracket
References
Sources