Mack Beggs, 18 year old transgender boy, competed and won title for the girls state wrestling, class 6A 110 pound division, for the second year in a row.

In last year’s competition, a lawsuit that tried to stop Beggs from competing was dodged. A parent also went to court to keep Beggs from wrestling in the female competition without knowing he was in the process of transitioning. This led Beggs to ask to compete in the boys wrestling division for this year’s competition, but he was rejected.

Although Beggs is taking low doses of testosterone, the rules for Texas require the competitor to enroll in the division that matches the gender on their birth certificate. The advantages and disadvantages of lower levels of testosterone are plenty. Click to more info here
Given the circumstances, Beggs faced one forfeit in the competition so that a girl can avoid wrestling with him. The opposing coach and teammates were insisting that the girl wrestles Beggs but she refused. Beggs’s mother, Angela McNew, comments on the forfeit. “He has so much respect for all the girls he wrestles” she continues with “people think Mack has been beating up on girls but the girls he wrestles are tough. It has more to do with skill and discipline than strength.”
Although Beggs and all his supporters were upset about this forfeit, he knew he would be encountering this type of behavior. After Beggs won his last match in the competition he was booed while everyone else was being cheered for. “What can I tell people?” says Beggs, “I can tell the state Legislature to change the policy, but I can’t tell them to change it right now.”
Beggs is now focused on college and is hoping to wrestle in the out of state men’s division on a scholarship. His hopes are to train for the Olympics for the year 2020 or 2024.