Iowa native Tavius Sykora-Matthess played in Major League Rugby during the 2025 season. He represented the Chicago Hounds for his entire MLR career.

A multi-sport athlete, Sykora-Matthess played football and 7s while at Washington High School, as well as wrestling (a sport with valuable transferrable skills to rugby). He played football at college level at Missouri Southern State University before transferring to Iowa Central Community College and focussing on rugby. He was named a Collegiate All-American in 2022, the same year he represented the USA U23 team.

Sykora-Matthess also toured South America with the USA Falcons in a busy 2022 before joining the American Raptors for their Super Rugby Americas season in 2023, where he played for two seasons. Following the announcement that the Raptors would not operate in 2025, Sykora-Matthess played with the Chicago Hounds academy side during the fall of 2024 and, on January 6th, 2025, the Hounds announced the signing of Tavius Sykora-Matthess for their 2025 MLR season.