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Rodeo star Jackson Williams died Sunday (December 10) during a duck hunting accident.
"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jackson Williams, who was a former member of the OSU Rodeo Team. His positive attitude and outlook on life were infectious, both in and out of the arena. Jackson will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected," the Oklahoma State Rode Team announced in a post shared on its X account Monday (December 11).
Williams was identified as the individual reported to be killed during the accident at Sooner Lake on Sunday. The Oklahoma Game Wardens initially reported that a duck hunter, identified as a 24-year-old OSU graduate student, "went out to retrieve a duck and hit a drop off," at which point "water overcame his waders and he did not return to the surface."
Williams was later found by responding authorities on the lake floor with side imaging.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to this young man’s friends and family. The hunting community is small and close knit, he will be missed," the Oklahoma Game Wardens wrote on its Facebook account.
Williams was a Department of Plant and Soil Sciences graduate student who attended OSU for seven semesters, university officials confirmed to the New York Post. The Arkansas native began his rodeo career in ninth-grade and went on to compete under his mentor, Jeff Collins, at Panola College, where he made his first Ote Berry Junior World Championship appearance and finished within the top 20, before transferring to OSU, according to his obituary.