Wessels Brothers Remain Grateful for BVU Baseball Experience
Siblings Grow Wessels Oil While Staying Connected to the Beavers
When Brandon and Bryce Wessels returned to Palmer to serve the family business, Wessels Oil Company, their plan involved working their way into management over a period of time.
The timetable accelerated when their father, Terry Wessels, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer and died in January 2017. Their mother, Terri, stayed with the business as Brandon and Bryce helped assume the controls and began its expansion.
Brandon, a 2016 BVU graduate, has worked with Bryce, a Beaver during his freshman and sophomore years, to help achieve growth through the acquisition of energy sites in Emmetsburg (2018) and Ft. Dodge (2020 and 2023). Additionally, the Wessels brothers have purchased car-wash enterprises in Manson, Pocahontas, Emmetsburg, and West Bend. All told, Wessels Oil Company now counts 40 employees.
“We’re giving back to BVU as we want to see students and student-athletes have an even better experience than we did. And we had a great experience!”
Brandon Wessels, 2016 BVU graduate
“We have a lot of great help in meeting the needs of our customers while structuring the business for the ease and efficiency of our employees,” Brandon says while citing the efforts of General Manager Jeremy Joynt and Director of Energy Jarrod Joynt.
Four Wessels Oil employees staff sites in both Emmetsburg and Ft. Dodge, while the remaining staff members are based in Palmer, where the business was founded by their great-grandfather, Ray Wessels, in 1938. The professionals at Wessels Oil sell, deliver, install, and service a full range of fuel and energy products for customers who vary from residential to agricultural to commercial and industrial in a geographic footprint touching all sections of Iowa.
“We were here as kids painting tanks and mowing,” Bryce says.
“And then at age 18, we began do more while working closely with our parents and grandfather, Ron Wessels,” says Brandon.
As young baseball players, the Wessels brothers played for Coach Steve Sonka, who helped direct the Northwest Iowa Roughriders baseball program out of Aurelia. Sonka recently retired after 18 years of service as an Assistant Baseball Coach at BVU. Sonka, who also taught courses in animal science within the BVU Institute for Agriculture, was honored during BVU’s Homecoming festivities as dozens of baseball alumni gathered to remember his successful tenure with Coach Steve Eddie ’00 MSE ’07 and Beaver baseball.
“Both Coach Eddie and Coach Sonka made a major impact on my life since I graduated,” says Brandon. “They never miss reaching out at those special times.”
“When our dad was sick, Coach Eddie came to visit and we grew even closer with his family and Coach Sonka’s family,” Bryce adds. “They’re very close to us. We have so much respect for both of them.”
Brandon held BVU’s hits record until this spring when Beaver senior second-baseman Jordan Mathewson eclipsed it on April 9 in securing his 224th hit, an RBI single during a doubleheader sweep of Wartburg College. “I have always told Coach Eddie that records are meant to be broken,” Brandon says. “And if records are being broken, that’s a good thing for the program.”
BVU baseball honored Brandon and Bryce Wessels during the spring as Coach Eddie presented them with the Beaver Baseball Diamond Award on Alumni Day, citing their involvement, encouragement, and continued generosity toward Beaver baseball.
Brandon recalled his baseball career getting off to a rocky start when he underwent shoulder surgery, knee surgery, and a bout with mono all during his freshman year. He redshirted that season and would go on to start for four seasons while playing catcher, outfield, and first base.
“My favorite memory involves winning the Iowa Conference Championship in 2014,” he says, referencing a season in which the Beavers claimed both the regular-season and league-tournament crowns. “I was the last one to jump on the dogpile as I had to sprint in from left field after the last out. I’ll never forget playing with such a great group of guys. It still feels like yesterday.”
He notes how enjoyable it was to play collegiately alongside his brother in 2014 and 2015. Bryce, 29, transferred from BVU following his sophomore year and eventually made his way back to Palmer to work with his brother at the family business. Bryce and his wife, Jacie, have three children: Beau, Jack, and Addison. Brandon, 31, and his wife, Megan, have one son, Kendall.
BVU is never far from the thoughts of these two First Team All-Conference players as they continue to cheer on the Beavers while supporting Coach Eddie and his winning program. The flag poles at the diamond BVU shares with Storm Lake High School were dedicated in Terry Wessels’ memory.
“Our dad loved BVU,” Brandon remembers. “For his last Christmas, we got him an aerial picture of campus. We will always remember it being a special place.”
The support from Wessels Oil Company, he continues, illustrates their belief in the academic and co-curricular programs offered by BVU. The University’s growing Institute for Agriculture, as an example, is just as important for the region as it is for BVU.
“We’re giving back to BVU as we want to see students and student-athletes have an even better experience than we did,” Brandon says. “And we had a great experience!”