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(AP) -- Wrestling legend Dan Gable has spent the last 40 years working to help grow the sport that's defined his life.

Supporters won't need to look at the statue set to be unveiled in Gable's honor in Iowa City to see the ultimate payoff for those efforts.

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on April 21-22 before what is expected to be the largest crowd in the event's history.

Organizers have already sold more than 10,000 tickets, far surpassing the record crowd of 9,434 set 12 years ago in Dallas.

The enthusiasm in Iowa has been spurred by four decades of work by the 63-year-old Gable, a former Olympic gold medalist and successful coach.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)