Steve -- Although devoting one's life to the sport definitely helps in the level of success, there are still a few examples of that not being mandatory.

I had the pleasure of watching Michael Baker compete for Smoky Valley High School in 4A. He started wrestling as a sophomore in high school in 2004. He pinned his first opponent that year in some type of chest press that I had never witnessed before -- it literally looked like he was doing a push-up on top of his opponent. 2 days later, he went 0-2 in a JV tournament and walked off the mat saying "I'm never doing that @#$t again." Two years later, he placed 2nd at state with a record of 39-2 -- losing in the last second of a 6-5 match in the finals to Derek Heckel of Ulysses.

I'm not saying it was easy. But it can be done. It just takes the right attitude and a lot of hard work.