A transgender wrestler in Texas won the girl’s regional championship over the weekend after a female opponent backed out of the final match.
Mack Beggs is a 17-year-old junior currently transitioning from female to male, but University Interscholastic League, the governing body of Texas sports, requires students to compete as the gender on their birth certificate. Beggs’ opponent in the final, Madeline Rocha, decided to forfeit the final match rather than participate.
Amanda McCune, the spokeswoman for Rocha’s school district, said the decision was made by Rocha and her family. She also congratulated Rocha for reaching the state tournament. “We are proud of our athlete for winning second place at the regional meet and look forward to her future success as she competes at the state meet this coming weekend”. Both wrestlers were in the top 4 in the tournament which means they already qualified for the state championship tournament.
A lawyer for Rocha’s school district had filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the UIL in an attempt to have Beggs suspended for steroid use. The argument is that, since Beggs is using testosterone to aid the transition from female to male, there is an unfair competitive advantage that could also expose athletes to “imminent threat of bodily harm”.
Nancy Beggs, Mack’s grandmother and legal guardian, says Mack is on an equal playing field with the rest of the wrestlers. “A wrestler is a wrestler all the way to the heart. They don’t care who the other player is, they don’t care about skin color or preference—they just want to wrestle,” Nancy Beggs said. “When the kids can’t wrestle, that’s what they don’t like. It’s difficult when there is outside interference.”
