Can you recover from an ACL injury without surgery? 

Short answer: YES!! 

For a long time undergoing surgery when you have injured your ACL was seen as the automatic pathway but that is no longer the case. Take for example a professional skydiver who I saw a few years ago. He recovered from a fully ruptured ACL to compete in national champioships less than a year later (watch this video for his story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_wIZqfiykE&t=5s)