Transgender athlete Mack Beggs has won the Texas girls’ Class 6A 110-pound wresting division for the second year in a row.
Beggs was born female and is transitioning to male. He has stirred much controversy over the years because of the steroid treatments he has taken while wrestling. However, Beggs asked to wrestle in the boys division. He wasn’t allowed to because Texas public high school athletes are required to wrestle in the gender division they were born in. According to University Interscholastic League Deputy Director Jaime Harrison, students are required to compete in the divisions of their birth gender because it helps schools determine competition.
Mack went into the competition 32-0 and beat three female wrestlers to win the championship.
According to his mother, some people have accused Beggs of “beating up on girls” but she doesn’t think that is true.
He has so much respect for all the girls he wrestles. People think Mack has been beating up on girls … The girls he wrestles with, they are tough. It has more to do with skill and discipline than strength.
Beggs was greeted at his competition with a mix of cheers and boos by the audience. You can watch his winning performance below.
WATCH: in a dramatic finish, transgender wrestler Mack Beggs rolls out of a possible pinfall to avoid defeat and win state. Met with boos from the crowd. @wfaa pic.twitter.com/72xRpzsQGN
— Matt Howerton (@HowertonNews) February 24, 2018
This story was reported in New York Post.
