MLR: Rookie of the Year Peyton Wall on his Record-Breaking Debut season in Chicago

The 24-year-old was the 10th overall pick in the 2024 Collegiate Draft and joined the Chicago Hounds squad, who are stacked with international experience. Despite limited early opportunities, Wall’s pace and work rate quickly made him a key figure, turning just seven appearances into three tries. He notched up 572 metres from 50 carries, 21 of them dominant and 32 beaten defenders. His form helped Chicago reach the Eastern Conference Final, where they lost to eventual champions, the New England Free Jacks.

Speaking to Major League Rugby, Peyton Wall said it “feels great” to earn the accolade. “I didn’t really need validation, but it’s just that validation that I made it. I can stick with it. I can run like the pros. It makes you feel like I have a lot more to prove. I had people congratulate me on Rookie of the Year, but that was when Chicago posted theirs, so I had to tell them I hadn’t won the actual one. Then one day I was in the gym, and I got a notification for something I was tagged in. I was stoked. It’s just been surreal talking to people who I’ve grown up watching play, and they’ve congratulated me.”

Wall had to bide his time behind three USA Men’s Eagles internationals and proven finisher Julian Dominguez, but regular meetings with head coach Chris Latham kept him focused. When his debut finally came in Week 12 against Miami Sharks, he seized the chance. Over the next two matches, he broke the Hounds’ single-game metres record twice, against Anthem RC and NOLA Gold and scored a vital try to help secure a spot in the conference final.

“You have a goal and an impossible goal. For me, that ‘impossible goal’ was the Rookie of the Year,” he explained. “My goal was to just get into a game and then score a try, but in the very back of my mind, I knew this could happen, but it didn’t dawn on me until that NOLA game and the Anthem game. It was a thing that I could actually get, which made me work harder during practice and not just playing for myself.”

The Fort Wayne native rose through the ranks at Indiana University, where he was a finalist for the 2023 Rudy Scholz Award, which is given to the top men’s collegiate rugby player in the USA. Wall was named MVP as the Hoosiers claimed the 2024 Big Ten title. Chicago have made a habit of recruiting from Indiana, also selecting Noah Brown fourth overall in the 2024 college draft, Brown went on to earn USA Eagle honours and a spot in the 2025 MLR Second XV.

After beginning 2024 in the Hounds’ Senior Academy, Wall’s breakthrough came when Nate Augspurger was injured. “It was surreal. Something that I haven’t felt in my whole life. It also came with this feeling of pressure to fill the shoes of the guy before me. I would say in my brain that I need to play as well as, if not better than, someone like Nate, Julian, or Mark. Latho told me during some games that I was in this role for a reason, and I didn’t need to do anything crazy. Knowing I had the backing from all the coaches, and the crowd roaring, fueled my fire and made me want to play better for them.”

The offseason has been anything but quiet for Wall, who has been competing in rugby sevens with the Chicago Lions and is set to feature at the prestigious RugbyTown 7s in August. Looking ahead to his second season as a pro, he’s eager to build on his breakout year. “Personally, it was a good season. There were definitely mistakes that I made. Stuff that I can blame on being young and being a rookie. Coming into next year, a bunch of people have told me that my second year is my hardest year, and I don’t want to fall into that ‘sophomore slump’. Going into next year, I need to work on different things to make myself better.”