CYPRESS -- Mack Beggs had been in this very spot, the pinnacle, 364 days earlier. In the same athletic complex. Beating the same state championship match opponent, Chelsea Sanchez of Katy Morton Ranch.

But if Euless Trinity transgender wrestler Beggs thought his Class 6A 110-pound girls title victory on Saturday would be more universally understood, respected and embraced than last year's, he was in for disappointment.

A piercing cascade of cheers and boos enveloped Beggs at the end of the match, the last of his high school career. He responded by repeatedly tapping his chest and turning in a circle so that every soul in the Berry Center, pro and con, could see him.

Did winning feel different this time?

"It definitely felt different," Beggs said. "I felt a lot more humble. This year I wanted to prove a point that anyone can do anything. Even though I was put in this position, even though I didn't want to be put in this position, even though I wanted to wrestle the guys, I still had to wrestle the girls.