This past Saturday a high school Texas wrestler completed a perfect 56-0 season, won regionals and is advancing to state in the 110 division.  It has, however, been an epicenter of controversy in the sports world since the 6A final ended with a forfeit. The controversy comes from the fact that the wrestler who won was born physically as a female and is in the process of transitioning to become physically male this season. Mack Beggs, 17, wrestles in the female division of high school.

The situation in Texas makes it so that Beggs can’t wrestle males under two rules. First, an athlete must compete as the sex listed on their birth certificate. The second rule does not allow different sexes to compete against each other in wrestling.

Adding to the controversy is the fact that Beggs is taking testosterone treatments to aid his transition. Under league rules, it’s allowed so long as it’s “dispensed, prescribed, delivered and administered by a medical practitioner for a valid medical purpose.” This is true for Beggs.

The testosterone is being cited as a chief concern among those who find the situation controversial, and not without due reason. The MLB, NBA, UFC and NFL all disallow using testosterone and lump it in with multiple other drugs as Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). So from that standpoint, I definitely see how people are upset as there are reasons why it’s on that list for multiple sports administrations, including the international World Anti-Doping Administration.

That being said, I also agree that Beggs has done nothing wrong according to the current bylaws for high school athletes.

The real controversy comes from Texas not having changed its athletic laws. I believe the birth certificate issue should stand, as athletes should compete as the sex they are, but there is room to allow cross-league performances — boys should be able to wrestle girls and vice versa.

Beggs states that he wants to wrestle guys. It’s not exactly fair to the girls Beggs wrestles that he is allowed a medical booster for strength and conditioning that under normal conditions is completely illegal for competitive use.

All summed up, both sides are right and Texas is wrong. Although this is a rare case, it could pop up again and states need to make sure any athlete can compete.