ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ariana Klinkov, the Head Coach of Fencing, has announced the addition of two staff members as the team gears up for the fall season. Klinkov has added Dan Bass as an assistant coach, and Holly Buechel as her director of operations.

"I would like to thank Coach Klinkov for the incredible opportunity to be a part of the Cornell Fencing program, and I can't wait to get this season underway with the team", said Bass. "I am thrilled to return to the world of college fencing. While I have coached at many levels of the sport, I find the collegiate level to be the most rewarding, as it requires an equal amount of focus on developing the individual athlete as well as the team and its culture. I look forward to building upon the success Cornell Fencing has already achieved, and I will do my best to help each and every athlete reach their full potential on and off the fencing strip."

Bass brings to Cornell nearly twenty-five years of experience in the sport of fencing as an athlete and coach. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Bass competed for the Varsity Fencing Team at The Ohio State University, which captured the 2008 NCAA National Championship as well as four consecutive Midwest Conference Championship titles. Shortly after graduating, he relocated to New Jersey where he began his coaching career. In the years since, he has coached for multiple nationally recognized fencing clubs as well as several high school and collegiate varsity teams. Most recently, he served as Head Coach of the Women's Fencing Team at Fairleigh Dickinson University's NCAA Division-1 Metropolitan Campus and was a member of the coaching staff at Tim Morehouse Fencing Club, one of the nation's most successful private club programs.

His students have earned numerous medals and achievements at the regional, national, and international levels of competition, including Olympic and World Championship medals, #1 rankings in the US and FIE point standings, high school and collegiate All-American Honors, and selections to Cadet, Junior, Senior, and Veteran National Teams. While foil remains his primary weapon, he has significant coaching experience in all three weapons and is a certified referee in foil, epee, and saber.

"I am excited to begin my role with Cornell Fencing as Director of Operations, and I hope I can also make an impact as a mentor for the athletes on the team," said Buechel. "As a former competitor in the Ivy League, I have gone through what our fencers will go through as student-athletes. I understand the challenges they will face as they balance athletic and academic life. It isn't easy, but it is truly rewarding, and I credit my college experience as an athlete for helping me attain success in my fencing career and in my life after college. I hope that I can help guide the way for the talented ladies who have dedicated themselves to fencing for Cornell."

A native of South Orange, New Jersey, Buechel boasts an impressive resume in the sport of fencing that includes both an individual and team New Jersey State Championship Title, an Ivy League Championship, and All-American Honors as a competitor for the University of Pennsylvania, and multiple national and international medals. As a representative of the New York Athletic Club, she was a three-time US National Champion and a two-time alternate to the US Olympic Team in Women's Epee.

 After earning undergraduate degrees in Fine Arts and Psychology from UPenn and a Master's Degree in Film Editing from the City College of New York, she successfully pursued a career in media and has produced several fencing-related films, including Speed of Fencing, which won "Best Experimental Flim" at the Big Apple Film Festival, and Fencing for the Edge, which has been selected to multiple film festivals across the United States. She continues to remain active in the sport as both a competitor and as one of the nation's top ranked epee referees.