At least for the spring and summer, Mack Beggs will get his wish.
Earlier this month USA Wrestling passed a new policy that will not only allow but require Beggs, a 17-year-old transgender male wrestler from Euless Trinity in Euless, Texas, to wrestle against boys.
The new policy was enacted after USA Wrestling's meetings earlier this month. It states that any wrestler who hasn't hit puberty can wrestle as the gender he or she identifies with.
For those who have undergone puberty and are transitioning from female to male, like Beggs, they can _ and are required to _ wrestle in the boys division if they self-identify as a male.
For those transitioning from male to female, to wrestle as a female the person must self-identify as a female and keep testosterone levels under a certain threshold, which may be monitored by testing.
According to a USA Wrestling spokesman, this is the first transgender policy the organization has had.
Beggs caused controversy last month as he went on to win UIL girls state championship while in the midst of transitioning from female to male and taking testosterone to do so. Beggs wants to wrestle boys, but UIL rules required him to wrestle as a female since that was the gender listed on his birth certificate.
UIL's birth certificate policy was went into effect in 2016.
Beggs, currently a junior, plans to wrestle in USA Wrestling's Greco-Roman discipline this spring. There, he'll face boys. Nancy Beggs, Mack's grandmother, said USA Wrestling called them first and has been working with them to make sure Mack is following the rules.
"We didn't call them, they called us and said, 'We need to make sure Mack is compliant. Having watched everything we realize how important this is to Mack,' " Nancy Beggs said.
But after the spring and summer, if UIL rules don't change Beggs will return to wrestling girls next year during the high school season.
The best opportunity for a rule change will come at the UIL's next legislative council, which is set for June. UIL executive deputy director Jamey Harrison said at last month's state championships that he doesn't anticipate the rule to change.
