What would you do with $11,300? The answer is simple for wrestling enthusiast Mike Applegate of Irvine, Calif. He wants to meet wrestling legend Dan Gable. And not only will he be meeting Dan Gable, but he will be spending a considerable amount of time with him at the 2003 Freestyle World Cup in Boise, Idaho, April 4-6.    Applegate, the 1975 California high school state champion at 130 lbs. and the current owner of Time Value Software, submitted the highest bid on usolympicteam.com to win "The Dan Gable VIP Experience."    The package includes USA Wrestling team apparel, two hours of individual time with Dan Gable, round-trip airfare, three nights lodging, local transportation, a VIP credential, and a chance to meet and obtain autographs from athletes. Applegate will also get the best seat in the house at the World Cup. He'll sit on the bench right next to the U.S. Freestyle Team.    The auction was established through a joint effort between the usolympicteam.com and USA Wrestling to promote Olympic wrestling on a national platform while raising funds for both the sport and the USOC's minority youth leadership program, F.L.A.M.E. (Finding Leaders Among Minorities Everywhere). Bidding began on February 21 and continued through March 3 when Applegate placed the final bid and proved his loyalty to Dan Gable and the sport of wrestling.    Gable, a 1972 Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medalist, was recently named Interim Head Resident Freestyle Coach at the U.S. Olympic Complex in Colorado Springs, Colo. He is considered one of the greatest athletes ever and held a record-setting career as head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa. He also served as head coach of three U.S. Olympic teams.    "I was a little nervous going into the auction, not as much as going into a wrestling match or anything, but you always want to do a good job no matter what you're doing," said Gable. "It's great that people are so interested and want to tag along. I'm ready to do a good job with the team and its an honor to have such a big wrestling fan assist me."    Applegate, who had never used eBay before, took a quick "crash course" from his 15-year-old son to learn the ins and outs of successful bidding.     "My son David buys and sells on eBay all the time and I had never used it before. After about a half hour talking to him about strategy, I was ready to go," said Applegate.     Following the advice of his son, Applegate held out until the last possible moment to place his final bid. And that strategy turned out to be golden. Applegate placed his winning bid of $11,300 at 1:16 p.m. PST with under a minute remaining in the auction to earn his place alongside Gable at the World Cup.     With his bid, Applegate sets a U.S. Olympic Committee record of his own - submitting the largest bid ever for a "U.S. Olympic Experience." Prior to this auction, a women's softball experience held the record with a winning bid of $8,100. Following as the third highest usolumpicteam.com auction purchase is a $5,900 VIP experience with Apolo Anton Ohno, 2002 Olympic Winter Games speed skating gold medalist.    The bidding competition over the "Dan Gable Experience" was intense. It brought in 39 responses in 11 days with seven of those bids over $10,000.    "This is a great example of the loyalty and dedication that exists within the wrestling community," said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. "We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all of the bidders for expressing such a strong interest in the sport of wrestling and displaying that interest to the entire amateur sports community," he added.     Applegate was happy to show his support of USA Wrestling and is looking forward to an exciting weekend with Dan Gable at the Freestyle World Cup. He conducts a high school wrestling camp in Southern California, the Hitchcock/Azevedo Wrestling Camp. He hopes to pick up a few coaching tips from Gable during his weekend in Boise.     "I am really looking forward to this," said Applegate. "I am a strong supporter of amateur wrestling and I really admire Dan Gable. Hopefully I can pick his brain a little bit and also learn a few things from the guys who are wrestling."    Matt Farrell, USOC Associate Director of Internet Marketing was thrilled to see this auction raise such a large amount of money.    "This auction was truly a success. It shows the strength of the USA Wrestling community and proves how much of an American icon Dan Gable is," said Farrell.    All net proceeds from the Dan Gable Experience auction are divided between the Olympic F.L.A.M.E. program and USA Wrestling.      For more information on the 2003 Freestyle World Cup in Boise, Idaho, visit www.themat.com.