Hmmm..
Sounds like you didn't have enough clearance between the throwout bearing and the pressure plate..
So the throwout bearing was turning all of the time. Thats why we always pull the inspection plate and make the free play adjustment down below. Too often we find too much slack in the pedal and rod mechanism, another issue is to make sure you have the proper Z-bar. A few are the same width but the tab for the clutch rod that pushes back on the fork is mounted in different places..

Just my $0.01..