Brock University Wrestling’s combat comebacks

Some outstandingly eerie audio and well curated voiceovers from actual athletes adds impact to this sensual, cinematic short exploring the psychology behind Brock University’s wrestling program.

Brock’s wrestling teams have won 35 national championships over three decades. But rather than celebrate the victories, Shkordoff and Creative Director Sasha Barkans focus on what happens beneath the surface: the nerves, solitude of defeat, fierce discipline and determination to return to the mat.

Blending raw footage from live competitions with stylised studio sequences, the film creates a heightened world that captures the intimacy and mental intensity of a match. “Everyone sees the hand raised at the end. I was more interested in the six minutes before it, and in the athletes who lose and come back the next morning anyway. That’s where the title came from,” explains Shkordoff.

Told through the athletes’ own words and King Lear Music & Sound’s layered sound design, the film traces what a match feels like from the inside: nerves that hit “almost like having a panic attack,” and a focus so complete the crowd disappears. When one athlete, Mia Friesen, describes the strange mid-match silence, King Lear’s mix falls away with them. “For the most part, I don’t hear anything. I don’t hear the crowd. I don’t hear the coach. I barely hear the ref… See nothing, feel nothing, hear nothing.”