ELLENSBURG — It began as a simple fishing trip. Just Buddy Wood and a few good friends from the Central Washington University football team heading up to Lake Cle Elum for some rest and relaxation.

Then Mitch Reffett, having played his last game as a Wildcat, pulled out the No. 44 jersey, and for Wood, it became something much greater.

"He grabbed the jersey and handed it to me," Wood said. "I was stunned at first. I knew it was an honor to wear the No. 44. I knew with 44 came responsibility, and I'd have to do my best to wear it with pride and represent it the best I could."

In Ellensburg, 44 is more than just a number.

"We wanted to start a tradition around here," said CWU defensive coordinator Joe Lorig. "So we decided that a player who best defines Central football — grit, determination, character — would wear No. 44, and that would be passed down every year."

Said Wood, "(Reffett) told me, 'I've always thought I'd give (No. 44) to someone who represented what Central football was all about, and you're the person I chose.'"

Grit. Determination. Character. Wood represents all those things — the fact that he has led the Wildcats in tackles for each of the last two years can attest to that. But the stat sheet is just one chapter in the long, diverse tale of Buddy Wood.

For the rest of the story, you'll have to travel to the classroom, where the hard-hitting outside linebacker maintains a 3.49 GPA while harboring dreams of someday becoming a high school math teacher. Or to the rooftops, where Wood exhibits his passion for roofing and construction. Or to the various locales in Ellensburg or his hometown of Chattaroy, where his service work in the community is well known in certain circles.

You could say Buddy Wood is a problem solver. The only problem he can't seem to solve is honing his interests.

"The biggest struggle is sticking to one thing because I like so many things," Wood said. "I think it's important to be well-rounded, but I have trouble narrowing it down.

"Even me and math. I love it to death, but is it the perfect decision for me? I don't know. ... I take everything one step at a time. The toughest thing for me to do is plan."

Wood never could let planning get in the way of his life, though. To this point, he's gotten by just fine without it.

When he was searching for a college to attend after graduating from Riverside High School, he looked into Eastern Washington University, Washington State and Oregon, among others. Everywhere except CWU, it seemed.

CWU was the final stop on his recruiting trip, an afterthought in his college search. He had never expected to like Ellensburg — but, then again, his expectations aren't often spot-on.

"I felt the higher I went up, the less personal each college was," Wood said. "I had a really good trip (to Ellensburg). I met with the team, and I felt this was a place I could fit in.

"I was surprised, big time. When you don't visit Ellensburg, you think of it as a bunch of fast food restaurants off the highway. When I came here, I saw that wasn't true."

Wood received a scholarship to come to CWU in 2005, but he had been recruited as a safety. The coaches had planned to let him observe and ride the pine at first.

Then, in one game, the plans changed. Before the opener against North Dakota, Chris James had a wedding to attend, and Chris Burch got hurt. So Wood was slotted in as a linebacker.

"I had a good game, so the coaches allowed me to stay at the position," Wood said.

Wood hasn't given the Wildcats a reason to regret it. After a medical redshirt year in 2005, Wood was second on the team in tackles the next year, and he was tops in the category in 2007 and 2008. With at least seven games left in his career, he stands in third place on the school's career tackles list (303) and second in assisted tackles (158), and he's within reach of both records.

And he hasn't gotten there with a reputation for flash or bone-shattering hits. Instead, Wood has built his legacy on consistency and intelligence.

"Every time that ball is snapped, he wants to be involved in that tackle," said head coach Blaine Bennett. "He's a smart player. He's got great strength, good size, good speed. He's a complete player.

"Some people are very intelligent in the classroom and don't play football very intelligently and very fast. Some people don't do quite as well in the classroom but have great football intelligence. (Wood) has both."

Wood has always been able to excel in the classroom. His GPA would be much higher — he finished with a 3.9 last quarter — if he hadn't gone through a period of admitted laziness his sophomore year. Yet his success in the classroom hasn't come without indecision.

He came to CWU with hopes of becoming a firefighter, but he had to abandon that once he learned that being a football player and a volunteer paramedic clashed on his schedule. He entered exercise science, but he "didn't feel there was a career in it," he said. He tried construction management, but despite his love for it, he dropped that major because of the long hours it would entail.

Teaching, however, was something he could handle.

"I could take long summers off, and I'd always wanted to coach," Wood said. "I was always that weird guy who liked math, so I decided I could become a math teacher."

More time off means more time to do all the things he loves. And football will always be a part of that.

Two of Wood's greatest influences are his high school coaches, Brent Monroe and Alan Martin, to whom he credits his desire to coach. With his deep understanding of the inner workings of football, Wood will always have that dream to fall back on.

"They were two people I really wanted to be, people I looked up to," Wood said of his coaches. "They have a strong passion for football and basketball and mentoring kids. What they did for me was really inspiring."

Of course, Wood said he wouldn't turn down a chance to continue playing football once he leaves Ellensburg. But no matter what comes when that time comes, he's got a plan in tow. And even if that plan doesn't work out, he knows something will. It always has.

And he'll have left behind more than just a number. He'll have left behind a legacy of everything it stands for. Grit. Determination. Character. And a little bit more.

"I've had so many great experiences here," Wood said. "Beating Nebraska-Omaha in the playoffs. Playing in front of 25,000 people at Montana.

"The best experiences, though, are the ones off the field — the people, the guys you celebrate your victories with. Those are the things you miss most when it's all over."