Those of you who have been following our coverage here over the past year or more are probably already familiar with Mack Beggs, the female high school wrestler who “identifies” as a male but has been wrestling in the girls’ division. She won the state championship last year, and on Saturday repeated the feat, concluding an undefeated season. Some in the audience at the match were clearly not pleased. (Star-Telegram)

Mack Beggs has captured his second straight state wrestling title. And once again his state gold medal ceremony included a mix of cheers and jeers from the crowd. On Saturday at the Berry Center in Cypress, Texas, the transgender male wrestler capped a perfect 36-0 season by claiming his second straight UIL girls Class 6A state title in the 110-pound weight class by decision, 15-3, against Chelsea Sanchez of Katy Morton Ranch High School.

The video from the event is available at the Star-Telegram link above.

I had been under the impression that this situation was already resolved. Last March there was an announcement indicating that the rules were being changed and Beggs would be allowed to wrestle against the boys. (That was her request… not someone forcing her to.) While I somehow doubt she would be competing for the state finals against the guys, it seemed fair enough to let her try if she really wanted to. And yes, I’m aware I’m engaging in a double standard since I definitely don’t want the boys who “identify” as girls competing against the actual girls. So be it.

Still, for whatever reason, Beggs is wrestling in the girls’ league which leaves us with something of a conundrum. Being a girl wrestling in the girls’ league is the default, so you can’t really complain on that score. But she’s been taking testosterone. Is that enough to make a difference by itself? No. Obviously, Beggs is a highly skilled, proficient grappler or she couldn’t have made it that far in state-level competition. But are these foreign hormone treatments giving her just enough of an edge to put her over the top in a close match?

Looking at the photos it’s difficult not to think that she’s getting some sort of a boost. Her upper body muscle development looks a lot more like what you’d see among the boys in that age group. The schools are saying that since the testosterone was prescribed by a doctor it’s not a “banned substance” in terms of doping rules. But that leaves one obvious question in this complicated mess. What if some other girl who has no inclination to claim she “identifies” as a boy has parents who are willing to allow her to undergo these sorts of risky experiments and start injecting testosterone just to gain a leg up in their wrestling career? (Or any other sport for that matter.) Are you going to allow that? And if not, what basis do you have to allow Beggs to do it aside from social justice insanity?

Presumably, Beggs is still under 18 and is technically a child, so she can’t be held entirely responsible for this. It’s the parents who are allowing this sort of Island of Dr. Moreau experimentation to be done on their daughter. It may not be quite as bad as the parents who allow their prepubescent children to receive injections designed to prevent the normal onset of puberty (and they should really be in jail), but it’s still pretty bad.

What Beggs does once she’s an adult is up to her, but if she’s going to continue with competitive wrestling or any other sport in college or professionally, this issue about testosterone and doping needs to be sorted out.