Texas Transgender Student's Wrestling Championship Win Sparks Controversy

CYPRESS, TX — A transgender boy won the Texas Wrestling State Tournament over the weekend, setting off a national debate over whether the high school student should have been allowed to compete against girls in his quest to the victory stand.

All Euless Trinity High School junior Mack Beggs, 17, ever wanted to do was wrestle, not be in the national spotlight after his controversial win. According to state policy, the transgender boy was required to compete against girls. He easily went undefeated in the quest for the state championship leading up to the 6A Girls 110 Weight Class decisive match.

Before reaching the state tourney, Beggs, who is transitioning from female to male, easily won the girl's regional championship after a female opponent forfeited the match. Beggs graciously hugged losing opponent Madeline Rocha of Coppell, Texas, on the victory stand this past Saturday after his opponent declined to wrestle.

Notwithstanding the milestone, not everyone's happy. Some female wrestler's parents have loudly objected Beggs, who takes testosterone as part of his gender transition, is wrestling girls. One parent has gone so far as to have filed a lawsuit against the league.

Beggs' victory comes in the wake of Donald Trump rescinding President Barack Obama's guidelines on transgenders students' rights, casting the spotlight on the little town of Cypress where the state tournament took place even brighter.

Asa Merritt, a reporter in West Texas, recently spoke to NPR's Michel Martin about the controversy.

"He wants to compete against boys," Merritt said, but under Texas rules, boys can't compete against girls. What's more, students must compete under the gender listed on their birth certificate so Beggs — who started transitioning about a year and a half ago — had no choice than to compete against girls.

Ironically and coincidentally, Texas lawmakers (led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick) are currently trying to pass a bill that would dictate transgender individuals' use of public bathrooms that uses the same birth certificate guideline. They want transgender people to be forced to use the bathrooms marked with the gender marked on their birth rather than the ones catering to the gender with which they identify.

That state backdrop has added to the glare of the spotlight.

Merritt, who covered the championship play, described the reaction each time Beggs competed in the 110-pound weight class. His back-to-back wins were invariably met with a mixture of cheers and jeers, the disparate reactions reflective of the split in thought about the young wrestler's fighting against girls.

"And people said things like, you know, 'He doesn't belong there. He should be on a different mat.' It was really intense."

Beggs hasn't addressed the controversy. The few times the wrestler has spoken publicly, it's to give praise to his teammates and coaches, avoiding the controversy as deftly as the masterful wrestling holds ensuring his victory.

"I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my teammates," the wrestler recently said. "That's honestly what the spotlight should have been on, is my teammates. ... we trained hard every single day."

Because all Beggs ever wanted was to be able to wrestle.

>>> Photo credit: Dreier Carr from USA from Flickr via WikiMedia Commons