The real story behind the transgender wrestler that became a national media sensation

HURST -- On Tuesday, Mack Beggs sat in a lounge chair at his mother and stepfather's house and gave his first extensive interview since becoming a national news story.

Beggs, who won the Class 6A state wrestling championship last weekend wrestling against girls, explained how he screamed whenever he was asked to wear girls clothes and how he was forced to wear makeup while taking dance classes as a youth.

"Worst feeling in my entire life," said Beggs, a junior at Euless Trinity.

He realized he was different in fifth or sixth grade. Beggs was born a girl but dressed and acted like a boy. He considered himself one of the guys but didn't know how to explain how he felt.

"It was terrible," Beggs said. "I felt so unhappy. I just couldn't figure out why I was unhappy. ... It was hard to explain to people."

It wasn't until his mother, Angela McNew, picked him up from school one day and explained they were going to watch something, and she wanted him to be honest about how he felt. It was a Katie Couric special on transgender people.

"I was like, 'Wow, that makes a lot more sense,'" Beggs said.

In the years since then, Beggs has embraced who he is. He's also embraced wrestling, a sport he's grown to love over the last three years, even as UIL rules keep him from competing in the gender he identifies as.

Beggs became a media sensation over the last two weeks as he went on to win the girls 110-pound state championship last weekend. As a lawsuit continues to try to prevent him from wrestling against girls next season because of his use of testosterone, Beggs reiterated Tuesday that he definitely wants to wrestle boys and looks forward to doing so this summer in competitions outside of UIL rules.

Beggs also opened up about his past. Beggs said he continued to struggle with gender dysphoria from seventh to ninth grade. In seventh grade, he spent time from August to November going to a mental health facility in Fort Worth. In talking with the counselors there, he came out of his dark place.

"I was so glad I got out of that state," Beggs said.

Afterward, Beggs gave himself pep talks, asking if he wanted to be like he was before.

"I'd be like, 'No I don't want to be like that again,'" Beggs said. "I don't want to be a lost cause."

In sixth grade, Beggs came out to his close friends. Some understood, others didn't and stopped talking to him. But Beggs brushed it off and said he had only a couple of bullies and dealt with them quickly by taking up the issue with a counselor or principal.

When he reached high school, he watched the school go wild as a wrestler made it to state. He decided he wanted to do that as well. Eventually, a kid who competed in everything from softball to track and field became singularly focused on wrestling.

When he faced the issue of either wrestling girls or not wrestling at all, he chose to compete. He said his training is why he won -- not his use of testosterone -- and why he went 57-0 this season. In fact, while he's gotten more leg and facial hair, he's actually disappointed in how little his body has changed.

"This is a bigger, more complex situation," Beggs said. "There's so many variables. People just don't understand that."

Twitter: @michaelflorek